münchner freiheit

 in addition to my s-bahn post... münchner freiheit (freedom, in english). a munich subway stop so gorgeous, it deserves it's own post. 

 all photos taken of the münchner freiheit subway stop, in munich, germany by me

cloudy day... sparkle-away!

not that one reeeally needs a reason to wear sparkles.... but this morning i woke up to an overcast new york. so i pulled out my little bottle of pink sparkles.

the look: sparkles on the eyes, leaving everything else (almost) bare... to keep this look from going in the i-am-shooting-a-music-video-today direction.

skin: tinted moisturizer... no powder... and (honestly....) only a sweep of whatever-was-left-on-my-blush-brush.

brows: i filled my brows and brushed them into shape.

eyes: before i used the sparkles i first defined my crease with brown shadow, leaving the middle of the lid bare. this way the sparkles would stick directly to my secret-weapon-eyeshadow-base. i dabbed them on my lid with my finger. there is no way to control loose sparkles like that. it will get on other arias of your face body... and might stay there for a couple of days. but isn't that half the fun? black mascara to top it off.

lips: good old lip balm


have fun... how couldn't you with pink sparkles?

monday morning....

the look: easy-cool, for just another monday...

skin: i started out with working foundation into my skin, followed by concealer under my eyes, then setting it with a light layer of loose powder. just below my cheek bones i used my favorite blush. bare escentuals, bare minerals, blush in golden gate and a veeery light sweep of face highlights on my cheekbone and down the bridge of my nose.

brows: (every time i do my strong-brows, and i think i might be going a little over-board with enhancing them, i think of kim kardashian and how amaaazing her big brows look.) i used a medium brown eyeshadow and a brow brush, to fill my brows. and dark brown to define the arch and thicken the outer end. after that i brushed them (upward) with brow gel.

eyes: instead of starting with a light base, i brushed a medium warm brown on my outer v and along my lower lashes. over that, and my entire upper lid, i layered bare escentuals, bare minerals, eyecolor, in the buff. this way i go a very subtle... sculpting. i also used a shimmery taupe eye liner, along both lash lines. (it seems to be my new fave-prduct, i just randomly picked it up, but i have been using it a lot...like here and here)

lips: a couple of layers of the revlon, just bitten, lipstain + balm, forbidden, only using the balm on the centre of my lips for hydration because i wanted a matt finish.


have fun

lisi....

i met lisi (actually elisabeth... followed by at least 10 more names) about 4 yeas ago, when we were both interning at my previous place of work, in munich. we have both gone veeery far from the little-care-free interns, we were back then. and even though lisi did not stay in munich, after her internship ended ...and i obviously moved on too... i still consider her one of my dearest. she is a friend, that i will always feel close to... no matter how long we haven't seen each other for. (and those are the most important to have....). i can have fun girly-days with her (the girl likes to shop!), crazy nights with drinks and dancing and stuff..., and dinners with deep heart-opening conversations.

she is the kind natural-beauty, that should never be covered with layers of make-up or hair die or other (fun, yet ...in her case... unnecessary) decorations. but beyond that she is fun and warm, and has the most endearing and joyful laugh, out of anyone i know.

little things, that make lisi smile:
those accidental bubbles, coming from the dishwashing detergent bottle, when you're doing the dishes - walking in the sunshine - the smell of fresh cut grass - having dinner with friends

 

 



all pictures of lisi, taken by me, in munich and berlin

graphic shadows

(now if that's not not a poetic title... i don't know what is.....)
this is the look i originally had planed for the day i got make-up on my dress and had to improvise, do to running-out-of-time. (the stains luckily came out... incase you were wondering.....) it ended up being a good make-up to do on a saturday, though. because it is one of the  more time-intensive looks.... but is also very good for whatever spontaneous events you might come across on a saturday in new york....... and yes, it ended up being a day that tough me to never leave the house without a wallet / id. even if your just "running to the cafe you forgot your phone at"...... 

the look: matt skin, liquid liner and dark lips

skin: evening out the skin with foundation and matting it with powder. i molded my face very lightly, by using a darker brown on the hollows of my cheeks and a lighter shimmering pink on my cheeks.

brows: i defined with brown eyeshadow and brow gel.

eyes: i started with the darker color, a matte medium gray. creating a soft shadow by sweeping a light layer all over the eyelids, using more color on the outer v and crease, while blending it very well. the second step was brushing on the light pink, starting at the inner corner and letting it fade out at the middle of the lid. with an angled eyeliner brush and a liquid liner (that becomes paintable after adding water,) i drew a (smallish) cate-eye. mascara, especially on the top lash row.

lips: to get a very hard edge, i start by putting liquid concealer on the rim of my lips, and then drew the shape with mac, lip pencil in vino. (feel free to not follow your exaaact lip shape. i, for example, like a very pointy cupids bow...) the lipstick i used was mac, satin, media. 

[beauty secret: to make lipstick last longer i close my mouth on a tissue and reapply a second layer of the color. and i make sure to have well hydrated lips before i go for a heavy-lipstick day. (ideally) the night before, i like to exfoliate my lips and sleep with a thick layer of a lip moisturizer of some sort, so it can really soak in. applying balm or a conditioner right before the lipstick, will not help too much and will just make the lipstick crease and wear off faster.]


have fun

love at first sight... tom ford

"if i can't have these sunglasses, i might die!"....

sounds dramatic, but that i actually what i said, when i saw kourtney kardashian wearing them.

i immediately suspected that this fabulous-sexyness was tom ford... and i was right.

to make a long story short (it is long... because i did look around in new york and germany to locate the best... price. i did. don't worry) i bought them. i had to.... it was that kind of purchase that made me sweat out of excitement. i kid you not. and even though it is basically fall, and i am living on the so called "tom-ford-budget", now. (which implies not buying little things, such as a matcha green tea lattes, on my way to work, or larger things like a new winter coat......) it was worth it. 

wearing them makes me feel like a million dollars! (a feeling you might have had yourself, in which case you know exactly what i am talking about, ooor you have never had it... in which case you think i am a total-drama-queen-fashion-victim-lunatic). and although some people might not believe me... i will have these foreeever. they might eventually be put to rest for a while. (like, currently, my neon orange alexander mcqueen pumps. i bought them befooooore eeeveryone and their friend wore neon... and they suddenly didn't seem special anymore.... i do still love them though). i will keep these babies until, in 20 years, my niece sees a picture of my wearing them... and will want them... and i will give them to her....... and it will give her that same million-dollar (or whatever currency we will have then...) feeling.

me, striking my don't-i-look-like-a-million-dollars-? pose

tuquoise and coral

(subtly) bringing out the david-bowie-side of my new hairdo/look.....

the look: dewy skin, turquoise eyes and coral lips

skin: for light coverage, i used a tinted moisturizer and abstained from using powder to maintain the natural dewiness. with revlon, just bitten kissable, balm stain in rendezvous, i drew circles on the apples of my cheeks and blended the color up my cheekbone, using my fingers.

brows: i filled my eye brows very lightly with a light brown shadow

eyes: i started out by dusting, the general aria of my eyes, with a loose powder, in a light shimmery vanilla tone. using a soft blending brush, i sculpted my eye, by placing a medium gray just below my brow bone. to add extra luminance, i used a cream highlighter on the centre above the top lashes and the tear duct. and here comes the turquoise... in form of an eye liner, drawn generously along both waterlines. instead of black mascara i used navy. and just coated my lashes, lightly.

lips: i achieved the juicy coral color by, first applying maybelline, color whisper, rose of attraction, followed by the same balm stain in rendezvous, i used as a blush. 


and now... put on your red shoes and dance!

happy accident

originally i wanted to do a dark-lip look, today. (...because i hadn't done it in a while.) to prep my lips for a sharp-lipliner-edge, i was about to apply concealer.... and the concealer squirted on my dress... and (apart from an annoying and time consuming outfit-change) i really hope the stains will come out... but my hopes are not high..... (yeah, that is not the "happy" part of the "accident", yet...). i decided to not do the stupid-stupid-dark-lipstick-that-needs-all-kinds-of-stupid-work-like-stupid-concealer-that-ruins-dresses-i-have-only-worn-once look. i improvised. (i also didn't have too much more time, before i had to get to work.) and this is the result. not suuuper special... but still nice... nice enough to redo some time.

the look: everyday-fast-but-could-still-go-to-evening look

skin: good even coverage with foundation and power. i sculpted my face very lightly with benefit, 10, a combo of sensual pink and naughty bronze (i think it should be called "face sculpting for dummies".... like me).

brows: to go with the whole sculpted-face thing, i did a strong brow. accieved with dark brown powder and brow gel.

eyes: i used a matt loose powder in plum, all around my eyes... especially on the crease, for a soft-but-dramatic base. my upper and lower lash lines were accentuated with a shimmering taupe eyeliner, that i drew on generously.  a goooood amount of mascara. already done! (like i said... i didn't have much more time.....)

lips: to also give my lips a bit more definition, i first used a lip stain in a nude, along the edges of my lips, and then a coat of a sheer-pink lipstick.


have fun... and don't get make-up on your clothes.

orange picking

i have been looking for the perfect orange lip color for the longest time... i fiiinally found one that was not too flashy... not too glossy... not too subtle... not too heavy... and not too matt.

the look: soft and radiant

skin: since this look is quite clean, i wanted to pay extra attention on my skin, to get that fresh radiant glow. in those cases i like using mac, prep + prime, skin base, because it has a very fine sparkle in it. for even looking skin, i worked foundation around my nose and under my eyes. i wanted my cheeks to be in the same orangey tone i would use for my lips. so (instead of also buying a new blush color, too) i used the same exact product. it basically looks like an over-dimensional crayon, and i drew circles with it, on the apples of my cheeks (channeling a china doll) and worked the color into my skin with my fingers.

brows: this look is free from hard lines. in soft strokes, with an angled brush, i filled my brows with light brown powder.

eyes: my eyelids got a matt base, in a color that is one tone lighter than my skin. to sculpt the eye for a natural look i used a matt light brown and swept it on, in a circular motion, (using a blending brush) just below my brow bone. the subtle luminance around my eyes came from using one of my favorite highlighters, bare escentuals, bare minerals, eye color, vanilla sugar. i placed it along my eyelashes. at the top i started at the centre, at the bottom i started from my tear duct and blended outward. with an eyeliner brush, i pulled a delicate line, close to my top lashes, with a dark brown. and intensified that effect, with additionally adding brown eyeliner on the top waterline. also, only the top lashes got a light coating of mascara.

lips: revlon, just bitten kissable, balm stain in rendevous, is everything i wanted in an orange lip color. i just drew it on my lips, after conditioning them. done!


have fun

i can't do without... eyeshadow base

one of the most (make-up related) questions i get (after "what mascara do you use?" ...but that is a whole other story......) is "how does your eyeshadow stay on so long?". the answer is very simple... artdeco, eyeshadow base.

i have veeery oily eyelids... and my eyeshadow creases after 30 minutes. it took me a while to find the solution. but, after using this (lets call it what it is) ...miracle-product once (at least 5 years ago), i would never put eyeshadow on without it, again. i am not exaggerating, when i tell you that it makes the eyeshadow last aaall day... dancing though the night... aaand sleeping (not that i eeeever go to bed without taking my make-up off.... because ...as we all know... that is really really really bad......) 

it is a skin colored, cream that i apply with my finger, before i put on my eyeshadow. it does make it a little bit more difficult to blend the eyeshadow evenly (-but you will get used to it), and i also feel like it tends to "gooe-up" make-up brushes (-but you'll just have to clean them more often). still... it is sooo worth it. unfortunately, i have only seen it in germany... so, i buy at least one every time i visit. did i mention that it is also only about 5 euros?

if you decide to give it a try (if you aren't already using it, because i already referred it to you), i would love to know what you think.

la fée verte

inspiration: la fée verte - kasabian

the look: matt skin, green-gold eyes and nude lips

skin: foundation blended from the centre of my face to towards the outside. i then matted my face with a good amount of powder, using a big brush. i placed a frosted, light-pink blush just under my cheekbones.

brown: i painted my brows in a way that they would be big, but not hard.

eyes: the golden base, for this look, i created by using bare escentuals, bare minerals, eye color in in the buff. it is the perfect mix of nude-beige and gold. all along the lashes, and on the outer half of the crease, i brushed a green eye shadow, that also had a slight shimmer to it. i rimed the eyes, all around the waterline, with a deep black kohl eye liner. mascara coating the lashes, making sure to get the roots.

lips: i used a thick lip balm and dabbed it on, with my finger, before using mac, pro longwear, lip pencil in etcetera. (only) drawing it on the upper lip and the centre of the bottom lip.


have fun

who needs black?

the look: focus is on the eyes (without using black), with rosy cheeks and pearly-nude lips.

skin: i used tinted moisturizer and only matted my t-zone, with face powder. my cheeks, from apple to temple were lightly dusted with bright pink, loose powder.


brows: light brown to fill them in (a bit) and no brow gel, to keep the soft and natural.

eyes: i love using mac, quarry as a base, because it is a very light/natural brown, but by layering it it still creates soft depth. the first layer covered the general aria around my eyes, and the second layer i only placed on my outer crease. then, i brushed highlights, in shimmering light-pink, on the centre of my movable lid and my tear duct. for the dark color, riming my eyes, i used a very dark, matt blue eye shadow. i used blue mascara. not black. ...y not? unfooortunately... it didn't end up looking blue at all....... but hey, sometimes things end up differently than you expect... but still good.... can i get an amen?


lips: sometimes (like today) my lips are naturally very red. for this look, i wanted to tone them down, though. to define the edge i used revlon, just bitten, lipstain + blam in (this perfect, barely-there color) instinct. i also used mac, pro longwear lip pencil, etcetera and drew it on my lips, starting at the centre, before coating them with the balm of revlon, just bitten (for hydration without shine).



have fun

s-bahn

don't get me wrong... i love the new york subway. well, not looooove. but it is part of new york, and there are enough people (in every city, i am sure) that hate on the subway. aaanyway, during my resent visit to my hometown, munich, i remembered how niiice the s-bahn is. with... padded seats... temperature, that actually doesn't make you sweat ooor freeze... trains that don't decide to miraculously run on another line (i do hate that)... the option of standing, without having to hold on, because it start/runs/breaks so smooooothely... and a real schedule!

 

all pictures of the s-bahn in munich, germany taken by madaeu