Sunday 28 December 2014

What i got for christmas

 I long time thought about if i should post such a post since i really do not want to look like a show off but then i enjoyed this posts so much from other bloggers that i thought i will do it too. I was really blessed this christmas with some very thoughtful gifts from my husband and my family. I have the feeling that beyond the material value, what mainly made me happy about this gifts, is that they show that my hubby and my family really know me and put effort into getting me something i would really love.
So the first thing i like to show you is this wonderful christmas gift box from Lush which i got from the best sister in the world. I am starting my last year of my PhD and i do not get a lot of time to myself. If i do get the time i just love to take a bath and forget the outside world for a moment and well there is just no competition when it comes to bath bombs to Lush. This perfect little treats which are at the same time whimsical and the perfect spa experience. To be honest i really love the box too, so i will definitely keep it after i went through all my little pamper experiences. I posted the backside so that you can see what is in there. The labeling is in german since my family lives in Germany but the names are the same like in Britain. By the way, it was my sister as well which baked this wonderful cookies in the picture above. We had this year christmas eve at her place and even though she was sick, she went out of her way to create the perfect christmas.


On the second christmas day, my husband and me had our christmas gift exchange and he has outdone himself again. He got me this Honeymania giftset. To understand how thoughtful this gift was, you need to know that i am absolutely in love with honey. For me there is nothing better then a perfect cup of tea with honey. When we were just dating, my now hubby actually took me to a honey shop in which spend ages testing each honey. A while ago i recieved a little sample from the honeymania body scrub and mentioned how much i looved the smell. So this most wonderful of husbands went out and got me the biggest gift set. This set contains a shower gel, the body butter (this is sooo moisturising), a bigger sized body scrub, a honey soap and a little shower fluff.  This body shop series contains real organic honey and the scent is to die for. In fact i took a shower with the gel and the body scrub and then afterwards put the body butter on and went to bed and i have rarely been so relaxed as with this wonderful honey scent in the air. If you love honey as much as i do, then you HAVE TO get this.

The second thing my hubby got me was a Desigual handbag. I have a great love for this brand. Their clothing and accessoires are so colorful and full of life and at the same time feminine. Just looking at their stuff brightens up my day. I really was in need for a medium sized handbag after my bunny chewed on my old one. I had been carrying arround for a while my big cognac colored shopper which i love but sometimes you like to look a bit less like you are going on a weekend trip. So my husband got me this wonderful Desigual handbag. I do not own a handbag from them yet and i looove this one. So yes, another hit.

So the next present my hubby got me requires some explanation again. When we got married at cityhall (we had a big church wedding the next day), we went out afterwards to a small cosy restaurant to have some dinner with the best man and maid of honor and the family. There on the table they had the cutes little salt and pepper shackers which looked like two little figurines hugging each other. I fell in love with them and when i saw salt and pepper shakers as hugging bunnies i had to have them (this was arround eastern). Then Eddy (my cat) decided one day that they did not fit our decor and knocked them off the kitchen counter. Then my husband found apparently those two which combine my childhood love of Pandas with my need for a cute salt and pepper duo. So well here we go. The third incredibly thoughtfull gift.  This might not be the top of style and you wont find them in any interior magazine, but to me they are perfect.


 The last thing i liked to show you guys is this wonderful set of pearl earrings. Now this might be old fashioned to some people but i still think every woman should own a pearl necklace. I just love this for formal occasions and i have worn one for my highschool and university graduation. I so far always lended the necklace from my mum, but a while ago she gave me one of hers for keeping (love you mum). So now for christmas they gave me matching earrings which are so lovely. I hope to wear them one day when i defend my PhD.



 So this was some of the wonderful gifts i got from my family. I have to say one of the best presents though was to see all this wonderful people i love and that i am so lucky to be able to spend this christmas with them. There was even several gifts for my cat Eddy and my bunny Louise. And at this point i also like to express my gratefullness for you my wonderful readers without whom my little corner of the internet would be very lonely.

Love you all and Merry Christmas

Mica (Sciencekoekje)





Saturday 27 December 2014

London Haul Part 3: Bits and Bobs

I love the expression: Bits and bobs. Its so wonderfully british. So let me tell you about the bits and bobs i picked up still in London which i really wanted to mention. I choose to give myself some time before i would post this items because i wanted to give them a thorough testing first. But here we go:
As you can see in the pic above, i bought a carmex tinted lip balm. I am a huge carmex fan but this one did not convince me. The vanille scent was way way to strong and it was not as moisturising as the normal carmex.

I picked up quite some Real Techniques brushes in the black friday sale. It was buy one get one for free. I did not own any real technique brushes yet, so i picked up the core collection which comes in a super handy travel case. I then still added a big powder brush (i just looove big powder brushes) and a foundation buffing sponge (i had seen those several times in use and just had to give this a shot). The sponge has become since purchase a holy grail product. This sponge makes my foundation look like just my skin but perfect. I have never seen a brush do that with this ease and speed. It is amazing. the only thing i do not like is that i do not really manage to get it completely clean anymore. I wash it out with baby shampoo and it smells all fresh again, but the discoloring from my foundation stays. Also, i have to hide this very well from Eddy the cat who already took of with it twice after digging it out of my make up kit. 
The Powder brush also does a really great job and its sooooo soft. My second favourite brush is probably the contouring brush. But i have to say they are all pretty great. So happy with those purchases.

The second purchase i would like to show with you is those two Rimmel lip products. I heard a lot about Rimmel Apocalypse beeing so great and having a great staying power. I have to say while i loved how this product looked just after application, it did not stay a lot longer then any regular lipgloss with me. So its a nice enough lipgloss but i do not really understand the hype.
The second one was a recommendation by Essiebutton. The Rimmel London Provocalips. This product is amazing. I bought mine in a hot red and i wore it all day in London and another time all day in Germany for a christmas market tour and it lasted. Not even eating would damage this perfect red lip. And at the same time, it was not drying out my lips at all. What is this magic? I actually have to remove this in the evening and it removed perfectly easy and residue free. I love love love this product and i will definitely look into getting more colors.

I really wanted to try the Tanya Burr products since i had heard a lot of great things about her lipgloss and also i was just super curious about her make up since she is a make up artist. I purchased the lipgloss in "afternoon tea" and the nail polish in "peaches and cream". I have to say i get the hype arround the lipgloss to some degree. this lipgloss does not give a strong lip color but it is like an instant lip booster. At the same time it is really moisturising. It has the normal lip gloss problem of not lasting very long but as moisturising as it is, it should be no problem to reapply. Unfortunately, Eddy got a hold of it and threw it off the table and it broke. I was able to fix it that way that i can still use it but i cannot transport it anymore :( .  
The nail polish really suprised me. The colour is quite nice though not my absolute favourite, but its lasting power was amazing. Even though i was using my nails to open packaging and i was out and about all day in London, this nail polish lasted and lasted and lasted. It is the longest lasting polish i have worn so far. So i am actually exited to get different colours from this.
All in all i was really suprised by the Tanya Burr products. I was expecting something mediocre which lives of the name and got two really great new items which i will keep using.
I also picked up a benefit sample gift set and also a simple skin care sample gift set and obviously a collection lasting perfection concealer (OMG). I might put up more reviews as i start using this products more. The collection lasting perfection concealer is amazing but i think you all know that already and i did not want to bore you with yet another raving review about this holy grail product.
All in all, shopping in London is amazing and suprisingly affordable. The prices were not any higher than in Belgium. In fact it was cheaper in London. I am already planning to return. I still have a long wish list especially for the more high end products. I feel so blessed that i finally got to try out all of this products i had read so long about.

Tuesday 23 December 2014

A little christmas pick me up : treacle moon cinnamon nights

Sometimes you come home after a long day of work or after an exhausting last minute christmas shopping and you are just to tired for a long beauty routine. Or you had a bad day and need a quick no effort christmasy pick me up. Atleast for me, in such situations there is nothing better then a hot shower with a nicely scented showergel. I had already bought some nice new body butters from the bodyshop but when this little bottles caught my eye, i just had to have them. This little travel sized bottles were under a euro each and have the most delightful christmas smell. I already used them three times and as you see, they are still rather full so those go a long way. I actually love that i was able to pick up this limited edition in this tiny size. The scent is very christmassy. It actually for me smells like mulled wine and christmas market. I love it but at the same time i would not want to be still using this in february and i have already quite an extensive collection of shower gels to use up. So ye those were perfect for me. For under two euro i can have my special christmas showers.

Treacle moon is a brand i do not read a lot about. The bottles are quite a like to Philosophy or the "I love" series. However, this brand is very inexpensive. It is a british brand that comes without parabens or silicons and is animal cruelty free. The scents i tried so far were all really lovely and natural and not artificial smelling at all. Their shower gels are really amazing. The body milks are not over the top moisturising but it does a decent job and i do not break out from it which i do a lot from bodymilk.
Those small bottles make lovely addons for gift by the way. In fact i bought quite some of them to add to the top of christmas gifts.

Have you tried anything from treacle moon? What are your thoughts?

Sunday 21 December 2014

London Haul Part 2: Soap and Glory

Hello my lovely readers. Today i show you part 2 of my London haul. I do realize that i went a bit nuts but well, Yolo right? I had heard so many amazing things about Soap and Glory that i definitely wanted to get some items while in London and as i already mentioned in previous posts, it was black friday sales so there was a lot of 3 for 2 or buy one get one half off. But okay, enough justifying. Lets get talking about the goodies. 

I know its a bit weird to buy a gift set for yourselve but they are usually great value for money and i wanted to try out as many different things as possible. I have heard amazing things about the sugar crush series and this gift set came with 4 minis including the famous body scrub and body butter as well as a shower gel and a hand lotion (you know i do love me some hand lotions). The scent is really lovely. It is a relatively sharp fresh lime scent which smelled that delicious that i nearly wanted to take a nibble. In fact i was not the only on thinking like that (see picture below). This gift set just costed me 10 pounds and to top it off, it was 3 for 2, so i bought two other gift sets for actual gift giving.


The next item i had to get was the shampoos. I read from several bloggers that they are amazing and i am still for the hunt of a holy grail product when it comes to shampoo. I tried them already once (and then packed them away until i used up all the other shampoos i bought) and i was rather impressed. It is difficult to say how good they are from just one time usage but my hair did not feel dry or tangly which it usually does. So i am really eager into getting to use those on a regular basis.

The last item i was curious about was the bubble bath. I head from many people that the scent is so amazing and i thought that might translate well into a bath. On top of that this bottle promised me to moisturise my skin while taking the bath like a body lotion. So i was sold. I tried this since then and i have to say it is a good enough product but the moisturising effect was not so great. So i think there is better bubble bath products out there then this one.
All in all i really liked the Soap and Glory series and i cannot wait to get started on all of this products. I have not really touched the sugar crush series yet since i have so many winter themed products i want to use first but i am really looking forward to it. The shampoos i already love, only the bubble bath let me down a bit but my expectations might have been overblown as well.
What is your favourite soap and glory product? Let me know in the comments.

Sunday 14 December 2014

London haul Part1: The gloriousness that is Sleek!

So here we go with part 1 of my London Haul. Before leaving for London i had read a lot about Sleek cosmetics and what great inexpensive products they make. So when i saw a big shelf in the Superdrug on Oxford Street i went a little nuts. However, given the price and the great offers on black friday it did not set me back that much. So i picked up a nice range of different palettes and products to give it a shot.
I had already planned to pick up an eye shadow and a blusher palette but then this  highlighter palette caught my eye. As far as i know this palette is rather new in the range and it really stands out with its shiny packaging which makes it appear far more pricey than it is. In it you get a nice little range of highlighters and contouring colors. Three of them are cream based and then antique bronze is powder based. It has instructions how to use everything on the package but i just went ahead and played arround with it. I have to say i am rather happy with this little set. Especially now for the christmas holiday parties i love to get a bit more contouring and this kit gives me a natural yet festive and improved look. I especially liked the Renaissance gold color for highlighting of the cheek bones and the antique bronze for in the hollows of my cheek. I used the lightest color under my eye brow for a slightly lifing look. Royal gold is also a really nice color though it is rather clse to Renaissance gold. The colors are all nicely pigmented and blend very well. So the first product i tested was already a hit.

The next product i had to have was the Sleek blusher in Rose gold. i appologize for the used look but there was bad lighting in our London appartment and i could not wait to try it out (bag blogger me ;)). I heard several bloggers raving on about this blush. I am not sure if my expectations were to high or if this product is just a bit overhyped. It is a really nice blusher but its not standing out as much as expected. However, i am using it a lot for a natural every day look. The packaging is typical sleek. The blusher comes in a small slim sturdy black casing with a little mirror. The only thing i would point out as negative that its sometimes a bit difficult to get open but that is really a minor problem.
So all in all a very nice blusher but not a holy grail product either.

I had already planned to pick up a blusher palette before i left for Britain. I do not own a big range of blushers and i thought this would be a great inexpensive way to start to play arround a little more with it. In this palette you get a great selection of 3 cream blushers. Pigmentation is great and they blend very well. I see myself using this palette especially come summer. Packaging is again the typical black sleek box with a mirror in the lid. I have to say i actually really like this type of packaging. It does not open easily accidently and it does not get scratched or look bad once it spend some time in your cosmetic bag.

The first time i heard about Sleek it was about their eye shadow palettes. In fact their i-storm palette is said to be one of the greatest Urban Decay Naked palette dupes. However, i already own the Naked 3 palette and a Mac nude palette and i felt i rather wanted to go for something different. So after browsing through the options, this little selection caught my eye. I think its a great selection for the winter month and christmas themed party make up. Plus, as a travel and city trip junky i really liked the names. I am really looking forward to rock "Love in London" for christmas eve in a smokey eye. The colors are all very buttery and nicely blendable. I could not agree more with other bloggers when they say that these can easily hold up against high end eye shadows. However, i do not think they are as great as urban decay. But then again, Urban Decay is for me pretty much a holy grail eye shadow product. All in all i love this palette and i am eager to purchase more of this palettes in the future. They are for sure great value for money. One of this palettes set you back only about 8 pounds (depending on offers).

I had lately heard beauty blogger Zoella recommending the Sleek lip liners and since i am a huge fan of lip liners. I sure wanted to give these a shot too. So i purchased two stronger colors for winter. I have to say those are insanely creamy and nearly feel more like a lip stick in pencil form atleast when i compare them to my favourite Mac lip liners. This creamy consistency however comes at a price. The lasting power was not so great on those for me and this is for me a major plus of using lip liners. I really loved the colors however. So i will keep using those but i do keep prefering the Mac lip liners (Dervish is my absolute holy grail color from Mac). I swatched these for you (see below)


All in all i have to say i am impressed by Sleek. Seeing the prices, you get some great value for money and i for sure will pick up some more next time i am in Britain. However, i would be careful on what you buy since not all products are equally great which i guess is true for every brand. I have to say my favourites out of the purchases is probably the eye shadow palette and the highlighter pallette, though i do not regret any of the other purchases either. So if you are like me from the main land and find yourselve near a british drugstore, make sure to give Sleek a shot. Saying that, more recommendations regarding Sleek are always welcome. Did i miss out on something? Any thing i should make sure to pick up next time? Let me know in the comments.

Monday 8 December 2014

Christmas in London


Hello my lovely readers. First of all i have to appologize for the way to long radio science. I went through a rather hard time in my life as a PhD student and it consumed me emotionally and physically to that point that i could not attend anymore to anything else.
However, i now feel a lot better and this is largely thanks to a little trip me and the hubby took a good week ago. We went to London for christmas shopping and soaking up some christmas feeling. Suffice to say it was amazing. It took my mind of things and i found myself back. Most importantly i realized again that there a life outside of the lab and that mine happens to be amazing. But okay this is enough personal rambling.
I went shopping in London but also had some amazing non-shopping experiences and i decided to not give all this juicy content away in just one post. I want to savor it. So over the next few posts i will share with you some of the amazing things i bought and amazing things i experienced in this most wonderful city of all.
We only had 3 days in London so we aimed to make the most of it. We went with the Eurostar from Brussels to London within a short two hours. This train is amazing. Not only was it rather inexpensive, you also do not have long check in times and waiting for your luggage etc. You step out at St. Pancras which is right next to Kings Cross and you are ready to start your London experience. Obviously i had to be a nerd and i went to take a photo at platform 9 3/4 (Harry Potter).


On Friday we went for a huge shopping trip. It was black friday and the offers were amazing. We went to Oxford street and i went nuts. We went with two small pieces of luggage and returned with another big sized luggage. For beauty i went to Boots, Superdrug and Selfridges and then obviously i went to Zara, Primark and many others. My husband was the best hubby ever and went patiently with me while i got matched for concealers, got a full make up done at the benefit counter etc. There was a lot of 3 for 2 or great gift set offers. While i was warned that Oxford street would be hell and especially on black friday i found it was okay. We also stopped at Lush which is a lot cheaper in Britain than in Belgium and stocked up on their christmas range (Snowfairy? not my scent..brrr).
Saturday was our sightseeing day so we did Big Ben (see picture above). Westminster, House of Parlament, Downing street. We took a boat ride down the themse till Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. We then went to Harrods and watched the rich and famous shop. The rest of the evening we spend at Winter Wonderland in the Hyde Park. More on that in a later post.
The Sunday we started of with a walk through Hyde Park where i had a conversation with a squirrel. We then went to Regent street to visit Liberty, Hamleys and the Apple store. We ended at Picadilly circus. From there we went to Soho and with a wink to Essiebutton to Bone daddies. Her favourite ramen restaurant in London (review incoming). We also had a little photo shoot done for some new couple photos.

I will go more into detail on most of this things in a future post but i can summarize that i love London. It is amazing for shopping since it has such a wide range of offers. You can shop for a low budget up to "the sky is the limit" budget. You mix yourselve between tourists and millionaires in Harrods. The decoration is beautiful and all the sales people were amazing. Not once did i have the feeling that i got treated less because i was rather spending hundreds then thousands of pounds. London is so versatile. Arround every corner is something new and unexpected. This city seems to have millions of facettes and i have the feeling i just have started to discover a few of them. Also "the tube". This system is amazing. By the second day i felt so comfortable in London. Via the tube and my oyster card i could be anywhere in London within a few minutes. In fact i felt so comfortable in the tube that i feel asleep in it which is a big deal for a person like me. The food offers were amazing. No matter what food you like, London probably has it.
In fact is was hard to come back from this wonderful vibrant city to home. I will give you a sneak peak at the beauty buys too. This is also a beauty blog after all :) And spoiler alert. I have not regretted a single purchase so far ;).


I hope you guys will forgive me the long break and you enjoyed my little rambly outburst of joy about London. Do not worry, the next post will be fully beauty focused again. How has your december been so far?

Lots of Love
xxx
Mica

Saturday 15 November 2014

The blessing of dry shampoo: Batiste


I know everybody and their mother seems to know and rave about batiste dry shampoo, however, i was one of this people which apparently were living under a rock and never used dry shampoo. I can not really explain why, i guess i just never felt the need for it. I have quite thin hair and i never been really happy with it. I always thought that was just a given and something i just had to live with. Damn genetics. When i got older i started to become more confident and i realized that beauty is not something one is born with necessarily but something you can achieve to some degree when you put the work in. There is a reason why millionaires daughters usually look good (beside the fact that some millionaires obviously marry models). They have the time and the money to invest into their beauty.
Now i have no time and just a limited amount of money, so i try to make up for it by doing the research and figuring out things by myself which mrs millionaire probably gets done by stylists. And it turns out, there is a lot of room for improvement even in my budget and a huge market accessible to me which comes up with new great things every day. One of the major things i find beautiful in other women is their hair. For me great hair makes or breaks a look. So i declared war to my unruly thin hair.
So well, this was a way to long introduction to something called dry shampoo but i will get to the point now:
Why should one use dry shampoo? Because constantly washing your hair is bad for you hair. Actually i read ages ago when i was like 13 a book about horse care and they said that you should not wash your horses hairs to much or brush it to much because it would thin it out. Apparently i figured that out for horses before i figured that out for myself.

But isn't that digusting because dirty urg? I do not know what you are doing with your hair but i do not throw it in the dirt or swoosh it over the train toilet, so my hair does not get exposed to a lot of baah stuff. Your scalp is indeed producing some oils which will make your hair greasy on the long run but this is actually good for your hair and nothing disgusting about it. Obviously i still wash my hair twice a week atleast and the rest of my body daily, but your hair is really not such a dirty place.

Is dry shampoo difficult to use? No it is the easiest thing in the world. I usually section my hair off with my fingers and spray it into the roots of my hair. I do not spray it on the ends since those tend to be dry anyway. I then massage the shampoo a bit in and brush my hair again. Done! It is really fool proof. I have introduced since my own convertion a lot of other people to dry shampoo and it worked great for all of them. Even my hubby started using it regulary.

Other advantage of dry shampoo? Atleast the batiste dry shampoo doubles for me as a styling product. It gives me added volume and makes my hair more manageable. I even use it when my hair still looks rather fresh because when i am out all day and exposed to weather it keeps my hair looking fresh.

I have to say that i did not feel this way before i tried the batiste dry shampoo. I tried some other brands before and to be honest i just used them as damage control when i was really not able to wash my hair and the result was okish at best. But since the batiste one, there is no looking back for me and this has become a staple in my bathroom. So for the few out there which never tried it, please give it a go because it really has helped me to get my hair healthier, fuller and shinier. I won't even start about the time i save in the morning too. I really like their classic one but i will give other scents a try in the future. I plan to pick up the colab one by "A model recommends" in London so i will let you know :)

Also never think like me when i was a teenager that you are just born ugly. Most pretty people were not born like this and look like that due to smart styling, beauty regiments and in more then one case Photoshop ;)

Sunday 9 November 2014

First time tag (no not that one :P)

A while ago i got tagged by the wonderful Amy of  "savy beauty buys". It took me a while to write this post. I guess i just do not have the most interesting answers ready but okay, you asked for it :P, so here we go:

First blog post? 
My first blog post was actually about table card cupcakes. At that point i was still not sure where i was going with this blog. I then did not post anything for a while and then started up my beauty and lifestyle blog. However; you can still find my first post on my site.
Do you still talk to your first love?
Hm define love. Do i still talk to my first boy friend? No. I was like 16. This is more years ago than i care to discuss ;) and i moved several times to another city and by now to another country since then. So no hard feelings but no contact either :).

What was your first job?
I was working for a local newspaper and writing tiny articles. It was the first job ever i got paid for. Relatively close to that i also worked in a bookstore as a sales person. That was all jobs during attending school though. My first real full time employment was as a scientist and i am still there :).

Where did you go on your first ride on an aeroplane?
I flew with my parents to Cyprus when i was 16.My parents felt they wanted to provide us with the experience of air travel as last big family holiday. It was great. Cyprus is a really nice holiday destination.

First broken bone? 
I broke a finger during recess in primary school. I did not want to say anything and even still attend sport with it until my teacher noticed that my finger had an unhealthy color (blue) and send me home.

First piercing?
I got my ears pierced when i was 14. Only piercing i ever got. I know i am boring :)

What was the first sport you were involved in?
My mum took me to a kiddy sports class when  i was like two but i am not sure you could call it sport. The first real sports classes where my ballett classes as a 9 year old.

First concert?
That was actually "the planets" by holtz. I know boring but i had a lot of very musical friends which played in an orchestra so i ended up at quite a lot of those. I loved them but i know its not everyones cup of tea. I also attended after that several concerts of small local bands. I honestly never been to a big concert (if you do not count classical ones). Huge crowds scare me a bit. But it is on the bucket list.
 
First fear?
Oh my god i was (and probably still am) an incredibly fearful child. I know that my mum told me that i was scared of getting my head wet. (does that count?) I also had a huge melt down when i was like 7 after my mum watched with me a kids movie with burglars in the woods and did not want to sleep in my own bed for weeks.


Since i do not like posts without pictures i provided you with a photo of Eddy the cat sniffing my orchids (favourite indoor plant).


So thank you Amy for the tag. If you like to check out Amys blog, you find it under the following link.
http://www.savvybeautybuys.com

Essence: All about nude (a drugstore surprise)


I picked up this little palette actually already a while ago. This was before my Urban Decay Naked 3 palette arrived and i was in the need of some quick eye shadows with a bit more rosy undertones for the autumn. Since i knew that i would get pretty soon the Urban Decay one, i did not really want to break bank for it so i picked up this cute little palette in my local drugstore. And well it actually surprised me a little. Obviously this is not as good as the Urban Decay one but honestly it is quite amazing for a drugstore make up. I think i payed like 5 euros for this and this stuff for sure can hold up with any other drugstore product which is a bit more pricey. Not only are the shades well pigmented, they also have little fall out and blend very well. The colours work very well for my skin tone. This is the perfect little make up palette for a day to day autumn natural look. So well i though i introduce you guys quickly to this one. If you are looking for a bargain, i can really recommend it.  Sorry for the weird swatch picture but after a playing session with my cat, my underarms looked a bit scratched so i actually had to swatch on my upper arm (unless you guys prefer to see how eyeshadows go with red streaks ;)). The two lightest shades make a good highlighter for under the brow bone by the way. Did you have any drugstore surprises recently?
I will definitely also still pick up some sleek palettes once i am in London since they are unfortunately not available in Belgium. Very curious to see how they compare.



Friday 7 November 2014

Mac holiday collection: My new pretties (swatches)

When i saw the Mac holiday (read christmas) collection, i knew i had to get my hands on one of this pretty eyeshadow palettes. So yesterday i raced in time out of the lab to make it ten minutes before closing time still to the Mac counter and there they were. There is 3 eyeshadow palettes to choose from. One with a red, one with a grey and one with a beige undertone. I picked up the beige since it goes best with my very pale skin. The beige palette comes in black. The little packaging is very sturdy and i for sure will keep it once the eyeshadows are empty. The lid is covered with glitter (which does not come off, yay) and a beautiful little broche like figurine. The lid is enclosed by little pearls. To be honest yesterday in the train i just kept staring at it. It is soo pretty.

Inside are eight beautiful brown colours. Four of them are shiny, four are matte. This little palette for sure contains everything for a simple day look but also for a festive look. Alongside comes a two sided brush, it is obviously just a small brush but definitely does the job for traveling or on the go.

 Here are some swatches. The shadows are well pigmented though i layered it a bit for this photo. The consistency is very buttery and blends very well. 
In short i am very very happy with this purchase and i am sooo happy with the pretty festive packaging.

Wednesday 5 November 2014

Little Primark haul

So i finally went to the currently only Primark in Belgium in Liège. I have been so far to Primark only once and that was in Edinburgh but it was love at first sight. I do not go there to buy a jacket or shoes but for a fun tshirt for one season or a nice summer dress its perfect and obviously what i love it most for: accessories and pyjamas. I had been looking forward to going there for a while but it is a bit of a drive from where i live and the hubby was not convinced that this was his prime saturday morning destination. But well i finally went. I had heard before that Primark can be a bit of a mess, but i thought surely that won't be the case in Belgium and for sure not in Liege. Boy was i wrong. So ye, i did not try on anything and i was very happy we went early. Never the less. I for sure want to go back. So here is a little overview of what i could get my hands on. I just noticed afterwards that i actually bought zero outside clothing but my brain functions reduced themselves upon sight of all the pyjamas and accessories . So that will be for the next trip.



So well first stop was indeed the accessories. I bought two necklaces which i have been wearing since then nearly every day. Perfect way to spice up a pullover or to wear with a tshirt and cardigan. The bracelets i got to wear a bit less since i cannot wear such stuff during lab work, however, i love them on an evening out or during a shopping trip. The last item was this two cute hair crunchies. They do not really look like crunchies once you have them in your hair but more like your hair is bound together by a ribbon. I just love those for a ponytail.


When i spotted this polka dot make up bag i just had to have it. It has so much space and it is now firmly residing on my make up table and contains my everyday make up. I think this one was just 10 euro.

And last but not least, of cause the comfy clothes. Nothing better for a cold autumn and winter day than to cuddle yourself into a comfy pyjama in the couch. I am aware that i went a bit crazy for the christmas theme but i could not resist. I also bought a pair of anti slip socks. When i was a child my mom made me wear anti slip socks in the house cause i would get my house shoes off. I rediscovered them as an adult. Just great for an afternoon on the couch without worrying to slip when you get up to get your tea and the cat thinks that in front of your toes is the best place right now ;). 
I also purchased a package of tights. Those are so amazingly cheap in Primark. The last item was a little owl tea light holder. It was just way to cute and i love owls. That little guy is now standing on my desk. I do not dare to light it cause i am worried my kitty will jump into it (the reason that in normally either put candles on a shelf or in that high wind light type containers) but well i have never been the reasonable one when shopping so i do not regret buying that one at all.
I also purchased several home wear items but i will put those into my christmas decoration post in December :).
In general i have to say the choice at Primark is amazing. Some stuff lacks quality but there is some gems in between. I am definitely going back. I even dug out my bits and pieces of french and answered the cashier upon the question how i liked the store: Trop formidable (Too awesome).

Monday 3 November 2014

Oktober favourites

Hello my lovely readers. This is my first ever monthly favourites post. I have been thinking a while if i really wanted to make one since i just did not feel that i had enough products to discuss which were new favourites as of this month. However, i then saw that several people actually also include books, websites etc, so instead of a just beauty favourites, i thought i make a general, all things i love in oktober post. So here we go.

Beauty:

Obviously there are a few new products i used this october or things i owned already which i love at the moment. One of these i have mentioned actually already yesterday in my hand lotion post. It is the Yves Rocher blackberry handbalm. I have been really loving this during october and it just has this wonderful intense berry smell which gets me into an all autumnal mood (you can find more on this here)
 Another product i have been loving during the autumn is the honey mania scrub by the body shop. I just in general love the lucious sweet smell of honey and especially if it gets colder outside, i love a good scrub to get rid of dried out skin etc. It is not a very intense scrub but i love the smell. I do normally prefer tubes since this little pots can be really messy under the shower. Also, due to the a bit harder consistency it was a bit difficult to get a good amount onto my body without loosing little crumbs, however, the scent made up for it.

After the shower and especially after a scrub, moisturising is a must and i have had a bit of a suprise favourite during the last two weeks. It is the Huygens body milk with Verveine. This body milk does not smell nice to me, at all. I actually think it smells like breath mints. However; it felt insanely good on the skin. I guess due to the mint contained in it, it had a cooling, relaxing effect on my skin. So i have used this up and i am looking into where i can get more of this. The scent after all does not linger and my skin has gotten so soft from it.


The last beauty product is a hair oil. I did not use hair oil so far but lately my hair tips have been so dry, i thought i give it a shot. Not just does this hair oil not leave my hair look greasy, it also really gives my hair definition in the ends. I have not tried many oils so far, so there might be even better then this one  (let me know in the comments) but i have been rather happy with this one.


Fashion:

 I did not shop a lot during oktober but i did pick up some stuff at primark (haul still incoming). I have been really liking this pearl necklace and the little bracelet. It goes very well with my autumn wardrobe and for this price i do not need to worry about it to come into contact with anything bad at work.

Books:

I had a super crazy work month but in the few rare calm occasions i really do enjoy a good thriller. So i started reading a book i picked up already in august but never got arround to read it. Karin Slaughter is a favourite of mine and so far this book has not dissapointed. Due to my slow pace, this will probably become also a november favourite ;). When you enlarge the photo you should be able to read the back text, so i won't bore you here with it. If this is your cup of tea, i can really recommend it.
Blogs, Youtube, internetreads:
If i get a new follower, i in general always check out their blog too, since big suprise, people which like my blog in general tend to have blogs which are after my liking. So recently i got a follow by "Science is so sexy" and obviously already the name had me intrigued. So i clicked through to her blog and i can just say wow. "Science is so sexy" is written by the stunning Esmeralda. She is a belgian blogger which got her PhD in Biochemistry in a protein based project (my favourites ;)) in Kings College in London and has since done 2 Post docs in the biomedical field. So this girl is for sure as much of a real scientist as it gets. She writes about science related questions and specifically things you always wanted to know about. So if you always wanted to know all there is to know about Parabenes in your shampoo from somebody who actually knows their stuff, she is your girl. I work in science myself, however, scientific papers do not really read like vogue and if you really want to get all the gist on such a topic, you really need to put some work in. So i do enjoy to have a reliable source. She writes really well and i think its a must read for any beautyblogger which wants to get their facts straight and in general for any science geek. So give it a click.

Science is So Sexy...
http://www.sciencesosexy.com

And then there is obviously my all time favourite. My cat Eddy. I just could not resist to add a photo here. Especially if my work load is getting to me, there is nothing better to sheer me up than Eddy greeting me when i come home and rubbing his little nose in my face. There is also nothing more calming than watching Eddy sleep.



So this has been my oktober favourites. I hope you liked this type of posts and i will see if i can scramble enough together for november, that is if i survive my november workload. If you enjoy my website, leave me the link in the comments, so i can discover more of this wonderful blogs :)

Sunday 2 November 2014

My addiction to hand lotions: winter stash.

I will let you in on a secret, i just love to lotion my hands and take a sniff at them if i need a wellness pick me up during the day. Especially if i have one of this insanely long working days, there is just nothing better, then to put a handlotion on. Massage it in and take a deep sniff and forget the world arround you. I know i am weird but i actually try to do this now instead of grabbing for chocolate. I am a very scent oriented person and scents come with memories and feeling of relaxation. So well, there is no suprise that i also own quite some handlotions because i never want to be without one. Especially in the wintermonth when it is cold outside but to be honest also all year long. I work in a lab and obviously i wash my hands a lot, so i get dry hands really fast. So without further ado, let me introduce you to my small collection. I intentionally prevent myself from buying to much more since those things do have a shelf life. So in a few month i might own 5 different ones again (though i do have clear favourites, but i will tell you more later).

1) Is the Balea Camomile hand and nail lotion: This little tube costs under a euro in the german DM and is suprisingly good. It moisturises my hands very well and leaves a soft Camomile scent. I can never resist to buy one or two of these for my handbag since due to their price they are great for the handbag and also great to share if somebody else is in need. (yes i am possesive about my expensive ones :P, but in my defense, the people i share with usually do not care about the scent and this one does a perfectly good job in moisturising). It also sinks in very fast, so a good recommendation for people on a budget.

2) The natura Ekos Castanha creamy hand balm. This hand lotion got sent to me in a birch box. I have a lot of brazilian collegues and they have told me that this is the number one cosmetic brand in brazil and that they even went through some length to get that here. I tried and i do get why. It is a very thick balm which wonderfully moisturises my hands while still sinking in very fast. What i love about this product is that it is free of parabens (as far as i can see) and contains a lot of natural ingredients. This one right here is based on Castanha oil and promises to not only provide 24h hydration but also to stregthen my nails. I do not know about the 24 hour hydration because i do not think i ever go that long without taking a shower or atleast washing my hands with medicinal soap (lab). But i do know that i do love this handcream. I will probably go and buy another one when this one is out.
 
3) The Yves Rocher Beauté de Mains: This is a well known and well loved hand lotion which i always end up having. Either my mum buys it, i get it for free when i shop there or its on offer and the shopping goblins want it. It is a very nice handlotion which moisturises nicely. I would put it similar like the Balea one under the budget hand lotions. Definitely nice one and like all Yves Rocher products also free of animal testing. I often have this standing arround my office for quick hydration on the go. The scent is nice enough but nothing special.

4) The good old Nivea Hand lotion. This is one of this lotions which always end up in my house even though i do not know where they come from. This is a nice standard hand lotion. Moisturises sufficiently but i am actually a bit bored by it so i would not buy it again. It does not do anything for me which other handlotions can't do better.

5) The Fig and Rouge Mango Mandarin Hand lotion. This was also a product i got via a subscription box. This is really one working for me with its beautiful fruity scent. I moisturises nicely. Sinks in fast and leaves a beautiful scent on my hands. Also, i just love the cute packaging. This is by the way a UK based brand. I will keep this tube though now for next year since i find the scent more appropiate for summer time.

6) My absolute classic and favourite handlotion: The L'occitane Almond hand balm with almond milk. This one is happiness in a tube for me. It not only moisturises my hands but leaves them wonderfully soft and smelling like pure almond milk. I love love love love this lotion. This is one of the many tubes i have owned so far and i will keep buying it. Based on this i am actually eager to try out their almond milk bodylotion (though i am worried that i will just get knocked out by the sheer awesomeness of this scent). Seriously this scent make me feel all warm and fuzy inside (god i sound like an addict, but well i probably am)

While writing this post, another blogger posted about the Yves Rocher Christmas ranges and i noticed that i had completely forgotten that i had gotten this as a gift, last time i bought something at Yves Rocher. So well i found it back and gave it a quick try to still include it in this post. Let me say i was very very positively suprised. This Yves Rocher Blackberry hand cream is not only way more moisturising than the other Yves Rocher lotions so far it also has the most delicious autumy dark berry scent i ever smelled in a hand lotion. So i was sitting at my desk sniffing my hands like a crazy person which earned me some seriously weird looks from the hubby (but well; he is married to me, so he is used to a lot). So if you are looking for an autumn handlotion, give this a go. I am already thinking of getting a bigger tube.

So this was my handlotion stash. Can you tell that i am addicted ;). Do you have any skin care additions? Am i the only one taking such a pleasure at smelling freshly lotioned hands? And most importantly, any good hand lotions i may not know about? Let me know!!

PS: I just realised out of how many different countries those come. Yves Rocher and L'occitane are French origine. The Balea and Nivea hand lotion is German. The Natura is Brazilian and the Fig and Rouge is of british origin. Yay for international quality :)

Saturday 1 November 2014

Budget news: The essence translucent powder is back!

I have been subscribed to the press mailing list at essence and catrice now for a while cause i believe that they from time to times bring out really beautiful makeup pieces at a budget. Not everything of them is great but if you know what to go for, you might be surprised at the quality you can get. I also love to buy this when i want to try out a really out there colour and do not feel like spending a lot of money on something which could potentially end up in the back of my makeup closet. Now Essence just send me a few days ago a mail about a new limited edition they are releasing in December called: Mountains calling. A collection oriented at ski season. I won't bore you with the whole release since you will find that over a lot of other blogs but i quickly wanted to show you the two items out of the collection which caught my eye. The first thing is the Mountain calling translucent setting powder. Essence had setting powders before and i heard that they are great value for money. So i think i will jump this time the train and give this a shot and at 3,29 it comes cheaper than a drink at Starbucks. The second thing i really like to try is the cream to powder blush. I really like the colour on the photo and could imagine that this could turn into a really nice hue on the cheeks for the cold winter month. This blush will cost only 2,79. So i guess i will let the Shopping Goblins have their way again beginning of December and give this a shot. You have any budget releases you are looking forward to buy? Let me know in the comments.