Next to nude

 

Sure, you're probably familiar with the Urban Decay Naked Palette 2. But let me tell you: it's all that it's hyped up to be. All my favorite neutrals packed in one kit, with both matte and shimmery shades? Surely that's shadow perfection. Ranging from a frosty vanilla as highlight to an intense black and with all kinds of taupe, caramel, copper and mauve tones in between, it's all I need in the eye department. After very elaborate research in Sephora last NYFW, I concluded I prefer this one over the Naked Palette 1 since the 2 has a better division of warm and cool tones and has a matte black which is basically my life essential. Especially dreamy are YDK, a shimmery rusty rose color and Tease, a purplish taupe. Swoon...


Urban Decay Naked Palette 2


(ps. I'm sorry I haven't posted an outfit in over a week. Working overtime and a thesis writing boyfriend made it quite impossible. But I promise, you haven't been missing out on anything exciting, I'm clueless on what to wear with this rain!)

Be the face of Martini and win endless Louboutins?

I have a huge announcement to make that involves a glamorous trip to Ibiza, a modelling break for , 150.000 euro's and uhm… a year of Christian Louboutin shoes.

 The Martini Royale Casting, named after the Martini Royale Cocktail, is looking for their new face. A woman with optimism and charm, that takes life in to her own hands. ‘Luck is an attitude’, as Martini spot on says. And being told what the winner of this modelling competition will get, I would most definitely take matters into my own hands… The prize is 150.000 euros cash and a leading role in the new Martini commercial. And Martini is amping it up a notch (sure, why not?!) by adding 12 pairs of Louboutin shoes and 12 designer outfits from Net-a-porter. Can I get a holy moly? 

How it works:

•  Castings end worldwide on July 9th. If you’re 25 or up, enter simply by uploading a short film on the Martini Royale Casting Facebookpage that shows why you’d perfectly embody the Martini slogan ‘Luck is an attitude’. 
• In July, each of the 27 participating countries has a local finale with 25 women. There, one finalist per country will be chosen to go to the big final competition on Ibiza. 
•  Shoe god Christian Louboutin, last years winner Yuri Buzzi (hot, much?) and Arnaud Meysselle (Martini’s Global brand director) make up the jury and I’m excited to see (perhaps on tv?) which girl wins. How cool would it be if the winner is one of my readers?! If so: it’s only reasonable to donate one of those 12 pairs of Loubs to yours truely ;) Surf to Facebookpage to see entries, vote or to sign up. Let me know if you’re entering, I’d love to see your video!

Code red

Although I hardly ever wear bright lipsticks – I’m all about a subtle pink lip with smokey eyes, and the touch ups seem so demanding! – I can’t resist a classic when I see it. The pointy shape of an unused, vibrant red lipstick is just beautiful. Next I’m looking for a pale neonpink color that I’m guessing MAC must have and would look great with my tanned (ok, I only ever get beige-sh) skin in Miami.

YSL 01 Rouge pur couture

Join the Best hair in Holland contest!

Always dreamed of being featured in a fashion magazine (secretly, haven’t we all at some point ;))? If you’re one of my Dutch readers AND you have great hair, you might just be in a big, professional shoot soon! Because haircare brand Andrélon is on the lookout for the Girl with the best hair in Holland and the big winner will get a 3(!) page spread as a professional Andrélon hair model in fashion glossy Grazia. 

 So, how this works. You can upload any picture of yourself on the Facebook contest page (and while you’re at it, ask your friends to vote for you!). Participate in one out of the six categories that best suits your hair type, either: curly, wavy, straight, short, updo or volume. The opinion of a professional judge + the amount of votes on the pictures will determine the winner. If you think your hair might be perfect for a big spread in Grazia, just go for it and enter. I've got my fingers crossed for you!


ph. via weheartit

The beauty equivalent of a little black dress

Steadily keeping up that Sephora addiction now that I'm back in Holland, as you can see. I felt like I had to do a quick post and share this make up product that I picked up during NYFW, simply because I wish I had known about it sooner myself.

When I was in New York, I went a little crazy at Sephora as most of their beauty brands are hard to get in Amsterdam. During the day my foundation and blush slowly fade off and end up all over the place. Despite what they all claim, this primer actually keeps 'em in place for hours and hours. (FYI: a primer is a serum like substance used before foundation as a base to make applying smoother and to make it last). Do note that it's a bit pricey since it's a high end brand, I paid around 30 euros in the US and luckily there was a discount in the Netherlands, but you'll only need small amounts. Basically it's the beauty equivalent of a little black dress: the right basic that makes everything else around it work ;)

(HD primer by Make Up Forever in color 0)

The bomb

A little snapshot of my new bomber jacket - seen in full here. I can't wait until it will actually function as outerwear this spring. (Also did my eye make-up a little different, creating a black v-shape on the outer corner of my eyes with black pencil and shadow. After all, there's no such thing as too much eyeliner, right?! The same rule applies to hair, obviously.)

My leopard nails & how to

Some might argue that I have too much time on my hands. Literally. But what's a girl to do when she's not feeling well? Experimenting with a black liner polish and creating leopard nails of course (I'm such a classy gal). First let me say that I did this on my couch with no attention to detail and there are so many beauty guru's with way better tutorials. But since so many of you liked it on my Facebook fan page I'm doing a a little how to post anyway. It's so easy! You'll need: a base color, one color for the dots (or more, whatever your animal instinct tells you) and a black liner polish. I bought mine in New York and it's by Color Club, but you van find them in most drug stores and on Ebay as well. Just follow these simple photo instructions and finish with a topcoat. Roaarrr!

Beauty post

After getting so many questions about make-up and skin routines, I’ve put together a big beauty post. 
A step by step make-up tutorial is on it’s way, this is a general post.



1) Creating a flawless face. I don’t have a lot of skin issues, but when I’m tired it immediately shows in my have (enter dark circles and pale complexion). So I apply YSL Touche Eclat under my eyes followed by a bit of MAC foundation in NC15 - it's the the lightest color they have. Next up: subtly applying bronzer from my cheeks out and some pink blush on the apples of my cheeks. A little highlighter on the cheekbones can also make you look fresh and fruity.

2) Eyes, eyes, eyes. I just eyeshadow base, black eyeliner for a subtle wing and black eyeshadow along the lash line that I blend with taupe shimmery eyeshadow on the eyelid. More on this in the tutorial – it’s super easy!



3) Creams and skin care
. Having good (looking) skin isn’t always easy, but it can make a huge difference in how you look and feel. Along the years I’ve found out what works best for my dehydrated skin. Secret ingredients are: 8 hour cream by Elizabeth Arden for dry spots and chapped lips, Vichy moisturizer for day and Embryolisse for night. Of course next to cream there are other - more intense - ways of hydrating or rejuvenating your skin that I haven’t really tried out yet but that I’m always interested in, for example with light. There’s a new laser light device that you can test at Douglas at the moment and that you can actually use at home for laser skin care. It’s called the Philips ReAura. How this works is that you just apply a gel, use the laser light to activate new cells (deep inside your skin) and lastly hydrate as you would normally do. It gives a smoother structure and reduces any pigment spots or fine lines on your face. Did you ever try this?

Curled up

Started curling my hair again. It's finally long enough after my last catastrophic haircut made it too short I only liked it somewhat straight.

I posted this quick pic on my Twitter and got a bunch of questions on how I did it. I'll try to do some sort of picture tutorial because my explanation isn't that clear but here it goes:

1) Dry your hair completely and use a heat protecting spray. 

2) Divide all your hair in to three parts.
One small section on the top and two bigger, equal sized parts in the middle and bottom of your head. I use the top of my ears as an indicator of where to separate the middle from the bottom bart. Twist all your hair except the bottom layer in a bun so it’s out the way.

3) We start with the bottom layer.
Divide that in to a left side and a right side.

4) Begin curling with one side – I do left first.
Divide that side in pieces of hair that are about 4 centimeters wide - yes; most of the work is in parting hair ;) - and start curling those in a motion going away from your face. You hold the iron horizontally and then roll the iron in a motion going away from your face, starting at the tip of your hair.

5) Hold the iron for a few seconds and carefully roll it out. Immediately spray the curl with hairspray when it comes out of the iron. Now do the same with the right section.

6) You’re now done with the bottom section. Repeat step 3 to step 5 on the middle section of your hair.
  
   7) Now everything is curled except for a small section of hair on top of your head. Where the parting of my hair starts, I take a string of hair that's about 4 centimeters wide on both sides and curl those to the outside. This frames your face so pay extra attention to getting a perfect curl.

8) The rest of the top layer I curl like traditional curl rollers. I lift up the hair so the tip of the hair faces the ceiling and then roll the curling iron down to my head, rolling inwards.

9) Shake it out, lightly brush the curls so they become softer and set with hairspray again. Voilà!


 Two last tips:
- For a more natural look, curl some hair outwards (rolling the curling iron away from your face) and some inwards (rolling towards your face).
- For the best result clip the hot curls to your head with small (bobby) pins, hairspray that and take the pins out when the curls are cooled off.

For more, also follow me on: Bloglovin', Twitter and Fashiolista!

Holiday hair

I was asked to share some fashion and beauty advice while travelling. Hope you like this new small travel category and stay tuned for a big fashion packing post and my holiday cosmetics one-on-one!

Being on holiday includes sunbathing, a subtle brown skin and naturally highlighted locks. However, it also means damage to my hair, and after two weeks I’m starting to notice the effects of all different influences here. It gets a bit frizzy because of the heat, dry and damaged from the sun and sea (blonde hair is the most breakable, lucky me), and static from the A/C. If I blow-dry it makes it smoother, but of course that’s not a solution and I’d rather tackle the problem from the inside. So a key word for me is natural oil. I was actually told oil is the oldest beauty ingredient; it’s been used here in Asia for thousands of years and the Greeks and Egyptians used them in their beauty routines (hey; what’s good enough for Cleopatra is surely good enough for me!). So I’m trying out the shampoo, conditioner and mask from a new line called Nourishing Oil Care, which is by Dove. It has almond oil, coconut oil (totally matches my tropical location :P) and mineral oils which will hopefully works as a hair emergency rescue, with another 3 weeks of sea and sand to go!

For more, also follow me on: Bloglovin', Fashiolista and Twitter!

Twisted silver

Even though I use some make up products religiously - I've bought the same mineral powder foundation, day cream, and lip balm since I was 15 - I'm somehow never that true to any mascara. Usually I will go with what catches my eye in the drug store (yes, that's my wild side) because I'm just a sucker for pretty packaging like this angled one. After all, if they put that much thought into the outside, the same must be for the inside, right? This 4D mascara by L'Oréal Paris is an upgrade from the Lash Architect I was already using but with more black pigments (yay!) and an improved texture. Promising, since my motto is something like the bigger, the blacker, the better for mascara's. I've worn it for three days and so far it meets my expectations; it might make it's way in to my bag as a regular. What's the one product you never leave the house without?

ps. This is the first picture with my new camera! Can't wait to show you more.

Getting glossy

Browsing the web and discovering new blogs is one of the things I love to do, it was one of the reasons to start my own blog as a matter of fact. It's also how I discovered Into the Gloss about beauty secrets of the fashion incrowd, created by Emily Weiss. Rings a bell? For those just as (secretly) obsessed with The Hills might remember her cameo appearance as the Teen Vogue intern from New York - hello dream job! She's since moved on and started blogging from Jen Brill's favorite concealer, Amy Astley's best beauty buys and Anna Piaggi's blush essentials. And since I liked the mix between beauty and fashion I thought I'd share.

ps. I hope to take outfit pics soon, I'm yet to find a new rhythm between interning at ELLE fulltime and taking outfit pics. And with my boyfriend interning fulltime as well at Comedy Central, time just isn't as flexible. We were going to take them today but something personal got in between. Hope you understand and I'm trying my hardest to make my blog as much fun to visit as possible :D Thanks for all your love and support! <3 Yara