Empties #5

My empties basket has been overflowing for a while, so that means it's time for an empties post! Can't wait to finally throw out all these items!

First of all, I used up two green tea sheet masks, one from Etude House and one from Missha. Both these brands are big Asian beauty brands. These were quite nice and felt refreshing on the skin, especially the Etude House one.

I actually haven't tried anything else from these brands, but definitely want to try more, especially the Asian BB creams are supposed to be amazing! It's not very easy to find these brands in Belgium or other European countries. I purchased these sheet masks via this webshop Koreacute. I actually met the owner of the webshop on Made In Asia 2014, a big annual convention in Brussels.

I've finished these two skincare items: the Lancôme soft cleansing milk and the La Roche Posay Mat moisturizer. I liked the Lancôme milk, it was very soft on the skin and got rid of makeup beautifully. I wouldn't repurchase because I like a cleansing miccelaire water so much more. 

The La Roche Posay moisturizer is perfect for combination/oily skin, and I will repurchase, but for now I'm still using an acne clearing moisturizer since my dermatologist made me... and she's scary!

Yes, another one of these... The Batiste dry shampoo in Tropical! I promise, I do actually wash my hair... That's the only downside for me: I finish these dry shampoo so fast, they don't seem to last me very long. The coconut smell of this Tropical one had me trippin' though, I didn't like it very much.

I really like these Simple cleansing wipes for any days that I wear loads of makeup and I want to get rid of most of it before deep cleansing or - don't kill me - when I've gone out and I'm so damn tired. But this happens rarely since I have the party life of a goldfish. Simple, if you're reading this, COME TO BELGIUM!! I always stock up on my wipes when I go to the UK.

I also finished these two sample sizes of the Chanel Perfection Lumière velvet foundation. I really liked it and would definitely purchase the full size when I finish my other foundations.

Another empty product is the Collection concealer (the writing's rubbed off). It was nice, and I finished most of it, but it was getting pretty old and was starting to look caky underneath my eyes so I decided to chuck it.

The Hema brow gel is gonna get thrown away as well, since it's gotten quite grosse and I wasn't really using it anymore. It did it job perfectly though and it's very affordable.

I finished the Smashbox Photofinish foundation primer in Light. No words for this item. It has changed the foundation game for me. My makeup lasts up to 10-12 hours, which is about 6-7 hours longer (!) than without a primer. Amazing.

Also, I emptied the NARS Smudgeproof eyeshadow base, which is quite as magical as the last item. I have very oily lids and this doesn't only make my eyeshadow last all day (and night) but also makes the colors so much intenser. A must-have for me.

Lastly I finished the Labello Fruity Smile chapstick. This lip balm is quite nice, it moisturizes your lips and gives a hint of color. One downside? I've noticed, after using it for years since I was teenager, that it kinda makes your lips addicted to it. It doesn't moisturize, it feels moisturizing and then makes your lips crave more Labello. It the end they're just as dry as before, so I'm not repurchasing anymore.

Have you tried any of these products?

Xx Anine

OOTD: Kimono/pyjama inspired outfit

When the runways showed kimonos and pyjama-like outfits several seasons ago, I was very cynical. "I'm so not wearing that, who looks good in those things?" were my exact thoughts. Well, against all odds, I've totally changed my mind. The reason? This beautiful kimono-pyjama pant situation:

White T-shirt: H&M

Kimono: H&M

Pants: New Look

Nude sandals: Eram

Necklace: New Look

Earrings: Primark

Bracelet: H&M

It may not be the most slimming outfit ever. But I don't care that much, it's just too damn comfortable! Normally I'm not a fan of floral prints, but these are so fine and look more modern with the stark blue background. I wanna wear these pants every day of the rest of my life!

Would you wear this kind of outfit?

xX Anine

LOOK: peachy summer make-up

Hot summer weather and make-up usually don't go together that well. I love the medium-coverage summer look I've been going for lately though, it involves lots of peachy colors. I threw the products I used together so you can take a look at them!

First, I use the Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat foundation (review is coming up soon!). This product offers light to medium coverage and is nice for combination skin. I do recommend using a primer underneath if you have oil skin! 

The L'Oréal Magic Lumi highlighting pen (review is coming up soon!) is perfect to conceal slightly and highlight underneath the eyes in a triangle shape. 

Then I set the face with the Essence All About Matte compact powder, especially in the T-zone with a big fluffy brush.

Afterwards I apply the Maybelline Color Tattoo in Pink Gold on the moving eyelid. The rose gold shade from the Wet 'n Wild Walking On Eggshells palette is perfect to put on top of that color tattoo. The light champagne color from that same palette is perfect to highlight the inner corners of the eyes. 

On to the cheeks: With a light hand, I like applying the Milani baked blush in Luminoso on my cheeks and slightly up on the cheekbones. The blush has a beautiful but natural shimmer to it, so applying highlighter is unnecessary for my fair skin.

I use some dark blue kohl eyeliner on the tightline (upper water line) of the eyes and finish it off with the Covergirl Lashblast Volume mascara.

Lastly, I apply my favorite summer lipstick from Yves Saint Laurent: the Rouge Volupte in the shade 32 Jealous Coral/Corail Jalouse. 

I hope you liked it! Would you prefer reading more of these posts?

Xx Anine

HAIR: Red hurr don't curr

So, after being in doubt for weeks about what to do with my hair, I decided to opt for a light red color. I'd colored my hair to 'honey blond' twice before, but that really didn't make a huge difference. In the end 'copper blond' made the cut! 

WARNING: there's an overload of awkward selfies in this post. Please excuse this.

Here's a before and after of my hair! As you can tell, it's definitely not blond anymore (copper blond my ass). I have to say that I've completely fallen in love with this hair color! It looks a bit more orange on photo than it is in real life. It has quite a red undertone. 

I used the L'Oréal Casting crème gloss in 834 Toffeelicious copper blond. It's the kind of hair color that washes out. The color should completely fade after 28 washings. I love this hair color. It looks very natural in real life, it didn't seem to damage my hair at all and is very affordable. Plus, the shade makes me feel very badass. Not at all unimportant.

Here are some awkwardly posed selfies showing off the new hair. Enjoy?

PS: a post about this makeup look will be uploaded soon!

xx Anine

HAUL: USA beauty

As I told you in my USA beauty wishlist post, my friend Maxime from laviedemaximee.blogspot.be went to New York last month, and the amazing darling she is, she brought me back LOTS of goodies. 

Stay tuned, people. It's gonna be amazeballs.

First she got me some MAC goodies that are way cheaper in the US (like the newer MAC eyeshadow palette) or are even unavailable in the Belgian MAC stores.

The newer MAC palette:

MAC eyeshadow in Omega: 

MAC eyeshadow in Soft Brown (unavailable in Belgium):

MAC eyeshadow in Expensive Pink:

All kinds of lip products! FOUR shades of the Maybelline Color Whispers (unavailable in Belgium), two of the L'Oréal Color Riche Extraordinaires (very expensive in Belgium) and one MAC lipstick in Coral Bliss (unavailable in Belgium):

Face products galore: The Maybelline Instant age rewind concealer, a back up of my Rimmel Stay Matte powder, and the Milani blush in Luminoso (unavailable in Belgian stores) and the NYC bronzer in Sunny (unavailable in Belgium).

And lastly, Maxime also brought me my favorite mascara: the Covergirl clump crusher, the Jordana Fabuliner (unavailable in Belgium) and the Origins GinZing eye cream.

A huge thanks to my girl Maxime!! You're truly an angel for picking up so many of my goodies!

xX Anine

SKINCARE: La Roche Posay love?

Since my skin freakout in January, I've been hella careful with my skincare. Since La Roche-Posay is famous for being an excellent skincare brand for sensitive skin, I've stocked up back in March. Today I'm finally here with a review on these La Roche-Posay products.

1. La Roche-Posay physiological microfine peeling
The first item I picked up back in March was the "microfine peeling" for sensitive skin. When the saleswoman advised me to pick it up, I was all like "I don't need no peeling! I need a scrub!" but she said it wasn't actually a peeling at all (you confused yet?).

+ No paraben
+ It doesn't sting my skin (suited for sensitive skin)
+ Reasonable price tag (around €14)

- Doesn't really remove all my dead skin (TMI?) and that's really what a scrub is for,  no?

Score: 5/10 - Doesn't sting but doesn't seem to do much

2. La Roche-Posay Hydraphase Intense mask
Back in the winter, when my skin was dry as a desert, this hydrating mask was very nice and soothing on the skin.

+ Soothing and comfortable on the skin
+ Doesn't make the skin greasy
+ Reasonable price tag (around €15)
+ No paraben
+ Takes only 10 minutes

Score: 8.5/10 - very nice when skin is drier or irritated/sensitive

3. La Roche-Posay Serozinc zinc sulfate cleansing soothing solution

I also happened to be in need of a new toner back then, and this one had been catching my eye for some time. 

+ Really soothes my skin when it is red or irritated

+ Helps with impurities

+ Also good for razor burn or nappy rash (for your potential baby, obvs.) 

+ Reasonable price tag (around €11)

- Doesn't feel as refreshing as the Lush tea tree water

TO BE NOTED: Only for combination/oily skin

Score: 8/10 - Nice

4. La Roche-Posay Effaclar Mat sebo-regulating moisturizer

This should work anti-shine and should minimize pores.

+ REALLY keeps me shine-free
+ No paraben
+ Feels fresh on the skin while applying
+ Reasonable price tag (around €17)

- I don't notice anything porewise, but I'm not a pore freak anyway so...

Score: 9/10 - Love!

Have you tried any of these products?

Xx Anine

HAIR: Obsessed with strawberry and pink blonde

Ladies and gentlemen, my hair is a mess. Although it is in a very healthy state right now and it's easy to handle, the color just isn't right. I've been experimenting with color for about two years, but tend to always go back to my safe zone, which are blonde mèches on top of my natural dark blonde hair color.

But my wild soul (okay, not that wild) has been craving something different and something more unique. I've been thinking about strawberry blonde and pink blonde haircuts. I want it. I nééd it. Here's some hair inspiration to get where I'm coming from. What do you think, would I look good with these kinds of hair colors? 

FYI: my hair gets easily damaged, because it's very fine and thin (extremely so due to medical reasons) so I have to be careful when coloring my hair. What would you recommend?

xX Anine