Topshop Hairchalk, or Kidsplay for sorta Adults

I've got these moments when I think I'm young & wild and a virgin

These moments don't happen in the morning when I've checked my mirror: wild, perhaps...but young? Not so much.

As for virgin? My hair used to be but after the restoration session it probably is a mixture of 4 types of dye and some bleach (still manages to look a natural beachlook instead of "hairdresser's head").

As a young mind, I thought turquoise dipdye would be a good idea, but maturity saved me from going in for that [yet], so chalk it is.

There are lots of places to get your chalk from these days, but I opted for the easy way when I ordered some clothes on Topshop.

 So "colour without commitment" for €5.

Let's see how it performed:

After my intensive complaining of my hair for *oh lets say* a whole year I am gonna show you some ends (so they are ends and not superhealthy, but they still have some natural shine)

"ready for a rendez-vouz, goldielocks"

 I am considered a [sorta] blonde in the Meditterean and a blonde in Asia, but in Holland they are that platinum that they consider me a brunette: "it's all about perception, right?"

Chalking up:

 

Andddd

Post-Chalking:

I liked the colour and it's quite colour accurate from the chalk-tube 

(and I am not even having white hair so I think it will work on darker brunettes too)

ONLY,

it looked so matte, so I thought I would give it some gloss with shine-spray:

tools of MATTE destruction: Bumble & Bumble Shine on...(and on...)

EHM?

 I'd probably should have misted it from a far distance instead. Now it's really pine-green.

I have never been that happy about my Bumble & Bumble Shine on but misting it afterwards is not the best idea. 

I think that "keeping it matte" is a good look when working with hairchalk. 

Eventually, it's for a party or other event alone and the matte gives it that "cool-girl-couldn't-care-less" vibe.

So, I am not a pro with hairchalk but for a non-pro it works quite ok, but keep the liquids before instead of after.

Ok, I forgot the ingredients:

bit blurry, sorry

CONCLUSION: Excellent festival spice for more standardy hair;  Fun stuff for commitment-phobes on hair; 40 (& 30)-somethings with pre-midlife crisis that still-have-to-go-to-the-office, or to see if you'd really gonna take the plunge on funky colours in your hair.

Availability: Topshop

Mid Weekly Quirkologies

The last seven days had a Regal note...but not only the Wedding between Kate & Will:

1 & 2 Dutch Queensday

The funny thing is that Queensday is not even about celebrating the Queen's Birthday, because her birthday is in January. It is her mum's birthday, and they celebrate on this day because it has a high potential for good weather (unlike January))

Queensday is about celebration, lots of revellers on the streets, and just everything orange (like the nailpolish on the right, which, ironically, is named L.A. Sunset).

So yeh, a bit of info on the Dutch culture...not beauty-blog related, but a bit as well because all that orange paint takes some skills (or not, because the weirder decorated the better, LOL)

Happy NYE!!!

Blogging takes you around the world: People in Sydney have already popped the corks and are already a full two hours living in 2009. In the meanwhile, you could be in Los Angeles waking up and you still have a whole day before NYE...



So I want to wish all readers around the world a FANTASTIC New Years Eve and even a better 2009! I hope all your good resolutions, bad resolutions, sweet wishes, naughty dreams will be fullfilled completely or partially (so you still have something to wish for in 2010).

Cinderella's tailor

Modern age, oh modern age...sometimes I despise thee, other times I adore thee.

One of the things I love about our modern age is...how could I not? the internet, and secondly, the ability to find something that caters your need on the same internet...

So I found an online shop that triggers my feel-good buttons: you can create your own partydress with YOUR sizes and YOUR preferences, dare I say your own little bit of couture, for a highstreet price.

At least, that is the claim that Styleshake.com makes. I have not ordered from them yet, but I have created some items...it makes an awesome play-tool for creating your own dresses.

I have created....the Michelle O. (for a stylish woman who is bound to become the first lady of style)

The Mme Bruni-Sarkozy: a woman with a notorious past, but a presidential future...
And the Liverpool Party Girl: Everything is fair in war, love and party dressing...

The website is UK based, so the prices will be in pounds, but the exchange rate is really good right now and prices are not higher than 55 pound (without shipping).

I am not sure if they are able to deliver before Christmas, it is probably too late...but it makes a nice toy for playing around and doing-a-Lagerfield...or perhaps ordering your NYE dress???

Tis the season for...red lips: part 2

The first part of the 'tis the season for...red lips'-edition already looked into the symbolism of the red lip, and I showed you some high end lipsticks that I really enjoy every now and then.

The second part will look at the midend and cheaper options I have.

The Clinique ones I have are quite glossy, which I love for a more toned down look. The first one I will be showing is the Clinique Colour Surge Butter shine lipstick in Cranberry Cream. I consider Clinique to be more of a midend brand on a price-scale from cheap to expensive.

Clinique Colour Surge Butter shine lipstick in Cranberry Cream- I love the bamboo form of the lipstick

Clinique Moisture Sheer lipstick in 05 Ruby Kiss- (yes, it is a tester I got in a swap extra)

I swatched the two cliniques and I compared them. First I want to discuss the similarities. As you can see, both are of a glossy texture and the colours look similar.

1. Butter shine Cranberry cream 2. Moisture Sheer in 05 Ruby Kiss

1. Butter shine Cranberry cream 2. Moisture Sheer in 05 Ruby Kiss

The difference is more subtle: I think the Moisture sheer lipstick has more sheerness and more of a glossy texture. The Cranberry Cream is indeed more of a red cranberry while the Ruby Kiss is a tad more berry-ish.

I love both colour as they are flattering for a neutral-leaning-to-cool toned NW 25 skintone. They are a good introduction to the red lip, because you can control the intensity of the colour. The slightly blue tones in the lipstick is a optic whitener for teeth: in other words, teeth look more white when wearing a lipstick with blue undertones, so that is a perk as well.

The next round of lipsticks I will show are the so-called cheapies. If you read a lot of beauty blogs, you probably have seen your share of NYX lipsticks. The round lipsticks from NYX are really cheap with prices from $1 to $2 online (available at Cherryculture.com and nonpareilboutique.com. Both stores have 20% discount codes right now: Cherryculture over here and Nonpareil here)

The NYX-es, or the Cheapies, are quite pigmented. They are excellent value for both the red lipstick-shy as the aficionado, as you can adjust the level of pigment on the way you apply it.

For a stain: press your finger on the lipstick and blot the pigment into your lips...tap tap tap...and there is a bit of a stain. You can always add a bit of clear lipgloss over it for a even sheerer and glossier mouth, or dab some lipbalm over it.

For a true red mouth: prep your lips by removing the flakies (lipscrub or wet washcloth), blot some eyecream onto your lips, apply a thin layer of concealer of a bit of foundation, line your lips with lipliner and colour your whole mouth with the same colour, apply lipstick with a lippencil, blot with a tissue, keep the tissue on your mouth and dot some powder over the tissue onto your lips, reapply your lipstick with the brush, blot again with a tissue, additionally...add some gloss in a clear or tinted colour.

Okay, lets show some action...the swatches:

1 Electra 2. Eros 3. Snowwhite

1 Electra 2. Eros 3. Snowwhite

Electra is a colour that I would call a true red or a red that caters for warm and cool skintones. Eros has looks more like a pinky orange. Snowwhite is a deeper red with more of a cranberry stain.

The last two pictures will show all of the lipsticks from the previous post and this post. It will give a good overview and shows which lipsticks are pigmented, the sheer ones and the glossy ones from each other. I combined the lipstick from part 1 and part 2:

1. Julie Hewett (JH) Gem Noir 2. JH Coco Noir 3. JH Film Noir 4. Lipstickqueen Saint Red 5. Lancome PS Kiss 6. Clinique butter shine Cranberry cream 7. Clinique Moisture sheer Ruby Kiss 8. NYX Electra 9. NYX Eros 10. NYX Snowwhite


1. Julie Hewett (JH) Gem Noir 2. JH Coco Noir 3. JH Film Noir 4. Lipstickqueen Saint Red 5. Lancome PS Kiss 6. Clinique butter shine Cranberry cream 7. Clinique Moisture sheer Ruby Kiss 8. NYX Electra 9. NYX Eros 10. NYX Snowwhite

So, I hope I could show you that red is not simply red...there is a great range of reds and there is probably a suitable red for everyone.

As you have seen, I have a great range of reds. Does this collection keep me satisfied? Yes and no...

Yes, I love my collection and they suit my skintone well...and No, because colours keep me fascinated. For example, Lunasol launched a new line of reds this autumn, called Lunasol Full Glamour Lips S and they look simply gorgeous. I have already been lusting over the 03 Fresh Red, which I saw on Haruhhi's blog over here and Kathy's blog has some swatches as well over here...they look really lushious, but they will be high end for sure (think $36-ish).

Tis the season for...red lips: part 1

The december month is most certainly the month that you will have to show your face to some kind of festive party, whether this is the office party, pre-christmas drink with your friends, the good-ol' Christmas dinner or the New Years Eve glamourama...

It is also the time of the year that most girls and women are about to reach for their red lipstick...there is something ultimately glamourous about wearing a red lip and the boldness of the red lip is so ultimately christmas-like.

The red lip is both glamourous as high-maintainance: even if it takes less time to master a proper red lip than doing dramatic smokey eye, it is more prone to smudging, smearing, kissing, moving, talking, wrinkling....And a smudged out smokey eye might look sultry and Kate Moss-esque-come-to-bed aura, the smudged out red lips looks just plain messy and utterly unsophisticated...period. So bring your hand mirror with you and check your mouth every hour in order to maintain your glamourness...

Anyway, there are a million and one tutorials on how to do a good red lips.
* Youtube has some good tutorials over here
* Temptalia also has a nice tutorial over here
* and I am pretty sure most of you already know how to do a nice red lip, or know another favourite blogger who does the best red lip evah...

Ok, After some informational talk about the red lip I am going to post some swatches of my high end collection of reds...

I am sure that most of the beauty bloggers already knows how the Mac reds look like...so I will post some non-mac items. Not that I dislike Mac (Mac is pretty ok imo) but there is a world of other makeup out there...

Some brands even went as far as to specialise on red lips. I would like to mention two of them: Julie Hewett and Lipstickqueen.

I have three Julie Hewett's that I am wildly enthousiastic about. The tubes of the lipsticks look so glamourous in gold, and the colours are really versatile. She also has a whole section on red lipstick and how to find the-perfect-red-for-your-complexion on her site(here). It is pretty good information because I am quite happy about the colour selections I have picked.
She also has sheer formulas (Gem Noir and Film Noir) and pigmented-on-steriods formulas (Rouge Noir).

I really like Lipstick Queen by Poppy as well, however, it is a bit difficult to get over here. I purchased the St. Rouge when I was on holiday in the UK (at space nk). The tube is gorgeous in matt gold and there are two textures, which are divided in a Saint-category (sheer) and the Sinner category (pigmented). Lipstick Queen sells glosses as well, but I will only show the Saint Red colour...




From left to right: Julie Hewett Gem Noir, Julie Hewett Rouge Noir, Julie Hewett Film Noir, Lipstickqueen Red Saint and Lancome PS Kiss.



Rouge Noir is probably the most pigmented lipstick I have found in my life. It is just as vibrant or even more in real life, and it gives your lips those fourties-screen-era type of lips that are absolutely not for the faint of heart.

picture in natural light (cloudy day)

Picture with flash
The next picture is gives a good impession of the colours and their pigmentation as well.

1. Julie Hewett Gem Noir 2. Julie Hewett Coco Noir 3. Julie Hewett Film Noir 4. Lipstick Queen in Saint Red 5. Lancome PS Kiss 6. Clinique color Surge Butter shine in Cranberry Cream

And I wanted to include some close ups of the Julie Hewetts as well.

The Gem Noir can be described as a corally red; The Coco Noir is a true Blood red; Film Noir is a berry red which can be intensified by layering it...(or leave it as a subtle stain).

As for the Lancome PS Kiss, sorry to tease you guys who hadn't purchased this one in 2007 but it is an excellent dark burgundy red lippy and it looks so gorgeous I did not want to leave that one out ;D

So, part 2 of the 'Tis the season for...red lips' edition will look at mid end lipsticks and lower end lipsticks.

But, I am really curious about YOUR favourite colour for a red lipstick: Do you wear red lipstick? What kind of texture do you prefer (sheer/matte/pigmented/shimmery/gloss/glittery)? When do you wear a red lip? And, if you have a partner/boyfriend, how does he responds on a red lip?

Beauté the Kosé Xmas set

Joy oh joy...my Beauté de Kosé set arrived today. It arrived within a week after ordering, so that is lighting speed for this international chickee. Big thumbs up for facial-shop.com.

Oh la la, the box looks really luxurious, not unlike a expensive wine box or a niche perfume box...


Little products wrapped in tissue paper...

Ohh, the gorgeousness....

I have already swatched the eye glosses and lipgloss, and I lovvvvve them. But I cannot bear swatching the blusher yet: look how pretty it is in its virgin state:

It looks like an engraved snow crystal with tiny golden sparkles...how could I harm that blush?

But anyway, I will swatch it this weekend....le sight....

Back from Paris

Hiya, I am back from the city of lights...It was wonderful, even though I did not have enough time to see everything I wanted to see.

I did find the time to make some pictures of the festive spirit.

Departement store La Fayette had a gorgeous pink christmas tree standing it its beautiful building...It was truely splendid.

And I love the decoration of this little barbie dress in a kind of glass bowl...so Cinderella-like.

And beauty...oh yeh, there is so much beauty items available in Paris. The pharmacies are stocked with products...

There were numerous perfume shops that looked really fit for a queen...

And Bourjois, very common over there. I made a picture of the (new?) vintage packaging of some of their products....

I did not have that much money to spend, so I had to skip these beautiful items....awww:

Shoes, shoes, shoes....seems that I had a shoe and perfume fetish yesterday ;D.

Ok, one more picture of that gorgeous christmas tree...

Countdown to Xmas

One of the better things about Christmas is, call me superficial...shopping! Cosmetic companies whip up wonderful gift packs and limited edition items that are linked to winter sentiments and christmas feelings.

I love reading promotional booklets that have special christmas specials inside. That has to do with my youth, I think, because I was completely mesmerized by the toys brochures that were delivered to my home around this period, and I loved circling the goodies I wanted to have...


I want to show you two brochures that really got my attention. First is the L'Occitane one. It is a semi-organic brand which is simply delicious. They start off with narrating some Mediterranean versions of Christmas stories, and embed these stories with their products they want to sell. (Quite smart, I think...I fell for it, LOL)



Christmassy colours such as green, red and cinnamon brown are decorating their products...I love the winter feel of this page, and I am quite curious for their Cinnamon scent in that adorable bottle with that special atomizer...

Ahhh, candles and christmas carols....

I am also charmed by the 'B Never too busy to be beautiful' leaflet. It has another feel, but it is more one of parties and celebrations with the girls..... Twinkle twinkle twinkle....red is the colour...

Ohhh, these products looks so lushious and so decadent. I would loooove to try the Corsage Bubble Bar on the next page (right).

Mmmm, more glitter and bathbombs...I love the cuteness of the green bathbomb and the purple butterfly.

Have a good weekend and enjoy the festive spirit....