ORGANISATION: Acrylic drawers

For a few months, I had been struggling with my daily makeup organisation. I kept a makeup bag on my desk, where I daily apply my products. But the makeup bag just wasn't working out for me, and I secretly wanted the Muji 5-drawer set *pause for light ascending from heaven and angelic singing*. This acrylic drawer system is every beauty bloggers achilles heel, and I found myself wanting to give in as well.

However, since this beauty blogging thing is just an expensive hobby, I wanted to choose a cheaper option. On Amazon I got the InterDesign clear drawers, that look suspiciously alike to the drawer set from the Container Store (which you can't get outside of the US).

Price:
I paid around €18, shipping included. If you compare this to the Muji 5-drawer set, it is a bargain! The Muji is just as big as this one, but has five drawers instead of three and costs €19, without shipping costs.

Quality:
I was afraid the quality of these drawers wouldn't be as good as the Muji 5-drawer set, but I really can't complain. It is very sturdy and of decent quality, especially for it's low price range.

Conclusion: I love these drawers for storing my makeup. There's nothing much more to it. It makes me do a more minimal makeup application, it makes me use products I have to try out or products I have to use up and... it just looks so pretty!

You can find the drawers here!

How do you store your makeup?

Xoxo,

Anine

SJP's own shoe collection?

Lots of us fashion lovers have been following Carrie in Sex & the city from the very beginning. Lots of us were very disappointed when it all ended after the second movie. The Carrie Diaries just wasn't the same as Sex & the city and so we were hungry for more Sarah Jessica Parker.

Good news then, for all the SJP-lovers: Sarah Jessica Parker is launching her own shoe line! That's right, you will be able to buy shoes made by the shoe addict that played Carrie in Sex & The City. Vogue announced that the actress will be working together with George Malkemus, the CEO of... Mahnolo Blahnik (!) to create her line. The line will be called "SJP" and will contain shoes, bags and some trenches and will be sold exclusively at Nordstrom in early 2014. The prices of the shoes will vary from $200 to $300.

Sarah Jessica Parker told Vogue:

“Because I got to play that role, I wore a lot of shoes, and by default I learned an enormous amount. It’s hard to”—no pun intended—“walk away from that.”

I'm so excited to see what Sarah Jessica will be creating. If I start saving for a pair right now, I might be able to buy a pair? ;)

xoxo,
Anine

Conceal away babe!

Concealers are the big secret of every beauty addict. With just a swipe of the product, your face becomes brighter. Concealing your dark under-eye circles hides the previous long night you had, whether you were working or partying. Concealing your blemishes hides the fact that you’ve been eating way too much chocolate. And applying concealer on the high points of your face can wake your face up as if you just had a very natural looking facelift. It helps the face in amazing ways. I discovered the power of concealer a few months ago, when I purchased the Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting concealer.

I knew from all the Youtube channels and blogs I followed, that this was supposed to be a dupe for the Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) Touche Eclat. This cult item has been cherished in the beauty world for many years, but also very misunderstood. The not so addicted beauty users are not aware of the fact that the YSL Touche Eclat isn’t a concealer; it’s a highlighting pen. This product is not used to hide blemishes, but the colour the high points of your face in a lighter shade with the famous Kim Kardashian-effect as result.



I’ve been dreaming about owning the YSL Touche Eclat for years and when I heard that the Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting concealer was supposed to be a dupe, I HAD to try it. The effect is amazing. I don’t think I’ll ever end up buying the real thing, because the Maybelline version has changed my make-up routing in amazing ways. I’ve run out of it about a week ago, and never imagined I would miss it that much. I said to myself “I’m not gonna go and buy another one, I have way too much concealers to use up!” I couldn’t justify repurchasing it, but can’t wait until I can! Now I try using other concealers in the same way, but the result is not nearly as flawless as the Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch. I LOVE THIS THING!

Other concealers I have been trying out are the Benefit Erase Paste and The Collection (2000) Lasting Perfection. But more about that later. The Estée Lauder Double Wear has been my basic every-day concealer for years. I once tried it as a teenager when I found it in my mom’s make-up bag. Ever since I’ve been using it. It gives amazing coverage over dark circles and I believe it is highly underestimated in the blogging community. I love it, but it’s not cheap enough to repurchase. I would repurchase the Maybelline Dream Lumi touch, but that isn’t supposed to cover your dark circles or bad blemishes.

The old and new packaging of the Estee Lauder Double Wear

I decided I had to try another drugstore concealer to replace my high-end Estée Lauder Double Wear for under-eye purposes. I had heard a lot of good things about the Maybelline FIT ME concealer, and so I have purchased that to give it a try.

As another cheap alternative for under-eye treatment, I tried the Collection (2000) Lasting Perfection. I liked it and stocked up on it when I was studying in the UK and since it’s not available in Belgium. It does the job, which is amazing if you take a look at the price tag. You pay about five/six pounds for it in the UK. The only thing I don’t like about it, is the smell. It’s not a very pleasant smell, but I can look (or smell) past that if it works properly.

The last concealer I will be talking about is the Benefit Erase Paste. I haven’t been trying it out to the maximum but it seems to be okay. The consistency is totally different to the previous concealers I talked about. This concealer is creamier and it’s orange-coloured to counteract the blue- and purpleness of the under-eye area. It’s pretty hard to find a decent powder to set it though, since it’s that thick and creamy. That means it can crease pretty bad during the day, so watch out for that!

I hope this concealer post was helpful to you!

Hello Kitty collection for Forever 21

The Hello Kitty Forever collection has been launched in Forever 21 stores all over the world last week. The collection features all kinds of clothing items with mostly cute prints and polkadots.

There are the obvious Hello Kitty dresses and knitted sweaters, but there are some more mature and classy pieces as well.


 If you look up close, you'll see that most op the prints are tiny Hello Kittycats. That makes it more wearable than you might think. The collection is overall very cute and girlie. But if that's your thing or if you like wearing it cuter as pyjamas, the Hello Kitty Forever collection might be perfect for you!

Grace Coddington for Balenciaga

We are a fan of the red-haired right hand of Anna Wintour! Especially since I saw the documentary 'The September Issue', in which we followed the royal family of fashion, I have been feeling a lot of respect for this woman on a quest of keeping creativity within the fashion industry. Of course we are talking about the famous Grace Coddington.

Exciting news: She is working together with Balenciaga-designer Nicolas Gesquière on creating a bag collection. The former model and famous creative director of American Vogue used her cat, Pumpkin, as an inspiration for the bags. That promises to be an interesting collection!