new york spring….. get inspired

this is one of my favorite places in munich and this photo (i took a couple of years ago) should inspire this so-called spring we are having here, in new york.

lash architect

finally. it is finally here, the post on my mascara. i get bunch of compliments on my eyelashes... and yes, i was blessed with a set of long lashes. and i realize nooo mascara will magically turn your lashes onto full feathery-bombastic-scandalous-telescopic-magnified-seductive-fluttery-millionized-plump-false-looking lashes..... or whatever creative promises those commercials tell you. i continue to be amazed and amazed by every new association the beauty industry comes up with.... ("high-heal"... "collagen"... "baby-doll"……?)



in my make-up-life i have tried a variety of mascaras. i even had a phase where i used a combination of  thee different mascaras….. crazy.

the one i have been using for quite some time now (and strongly recommend) is l'oreal paris, lash architect. i haven't seen it in the us…. which means that i always get a hand-full (when i visit my family in munich) …..and also a couple for my friends, who i have gotten hooked. the reason why i like it is because it gives me long lashes without being clumpy spider legs.

generally, i can say that mascara is one of the products that i do not feel like it it is worth buying a name-brand product. i am also very much a defender of the classic-wand. i don't like those crazy rubbery… spiky… curved... or any other kind of fancy-shmancy wands. they don't work for me. i will elaborate more why, in my next post... where i go more into detail of my specially developed application technique. uuuuuh… i know i am such a tease…... but like i said… this is preeeetty much as secret as my beauty-secret goes……

hashtaaaag nofakelashes

ok... i know... i have promised you this like a miiiillion times.... but tomorrow will be the day....when i finally give you a post on my mascara and eyelash-tricks. i will confess that i have been putting it off because i am about to reveal my absolute most secret beauty secrets.......

while you are waiting… my eyelashes captured via instagram...

luckily i have been blesses wish a good set of lashes, because i absolutely can noooot handle wearing falsies…… 

last time i did (new years eve of 2013)... i ended up pulling them off before midnight……

hope you are having a lash-fabulous weekend!

scarlet brows

this morning i didn't have much time…. you know… pre-work run and all that good stuff. 

i did my plain and simple look but instead of red lips... i did red brows. bama!

 i used my mac frankly scarlet powder blush and a bit of swiss chocolate eyeshadow, with in an angled brow brush.

for bare looks like this one, i make sure to have as-flawless-skin-as-possible……

i am working on a new night and morning skin-care routine. that (after i perfect it) will of course be sharing you you ladies…. and gents. and man(!) can i tell you how happy i am with my new foundation products... revlon, photoready bb cream, skin perfecter with spy 30 under bare essentials, bare minerals, original foundation broad spectrum.

 

happy friiiiiiday!

new york be throwing shaaade...

the real housewives of atlanta is not only good for make-up inspiration.... also for broadening my vocab.

 

tank the i am seriously considering getting....... from www.lookhuman.com

 

 

 

all photos of shady new york sidewalks take by me

 

purple cat-eyes

soft cat-eyes ......with purple.
 

 

 

skin: on my skin i did my current basic-foundation routine.  revlon's photoready bb cream, skin perfecter with spy 30,  bare escentuals, bare minerals, original foundation broad spectrum and  the satiny pink color in benefit's 10.

eyes: i wanted the base to be naturally sculpted... so i first generously covered my lid, almost up to my brow bone, with bare escentuals, bare minerals eye color in bare skin. (why i love this eye shadow i already told you about here) for a bit of extra crease-definition i added a matt light brown shadow with blending brush in circular motions. the color-part of this look was a thicker line, in a cat-eye shape, of sephora collection, jumbo liner in violet. for additional glow-effect i placed loose powder in vanilla sugar on the center of my top lid and along the bottom lash row (the only attention the bottom lid got....). lastly, i used an angled eyeliner brush and drew along the roots of my lashes with mac's plumage. as far as mascara goes... i only used it on the top.

lips: for natural and juicy lips i used mac lipstick, twig under a light layer of their lip conditioner.


have fun!

food cart guy… little things that make me smile

i pass this food cart every morning on 14th street… on my way to work. i often look at the pastries and fantasized about sinking my teeth into the sugary… sticky… greasy… doughy heaven…….. but that's besides the point.

when i pass this food cart the man in the picture says "i like your glasses!". the first couple of times i didn't realize that he was talking to me, but now i smile back at him and say "thanx!". no matter how down i am feeling that day.... he aaaaalways makes me smile.

he did want a kiss for letting me take this picture....

bb vs bb

like promised…. here is my review on the multitasking foundation… bb cream.  since i am not the cover-my-face-completely-with-a-mask-of-cakey-paste kinda gal, i usually use a tinted moisturizer and or powder. the bb creams are considered a tinted moisturizer on steroids. basically every cosmetics brand in every price-segment, brought out their version of this moisturizing and skin smoothing hybrid.

bb creams (short for beauty or blemish creams) are like tinted moisturizers on steroids. in addition to hydrating and evening out skin tones, bb creams also treat the skin with antioxidants or other anti-aging ingredients, plus offer spf. so don't ask me why i am only checking these out now…… better late than never.

i chose to put bobbi brown's bb cream broad spectrum spf 35 

and revlon's photoready bb cream, skin perfecter with spy 30  head to head. 

first of all i will tell you that in these pictures i am oooooonly wearing the bb creams (one on each side of my face) …..and mascara. no powder, blush, eyeshadow, brow pencil or photo-editing. so you will also get to see what i mean when i keep on mentioning that my skin is going through a…. not-soooo-perfect phase. but ladies, aren't these the times that we need to know our little tricks? so here we go…

first the hard facts: 

bobbi brown (i got mine at sephora) made my wallet $47 (including tax) lighter. for that price i was thinking to myself "this better be as amazing as i was told"…. by both a friend (who is the reason i decided to try this brand) and the saphora sales woman.  (i can usually tell the difference  between them really believing in a product... or when they are just trying to sell it to me. (but his might actually be a figment of my imagination……))

 the revlon version i got during a 40% sale at right aid, where it's usual price is $10.99. yes i know that is a lot more affordable. but(!), even though at this point (to some of you the winner of this battle is already decided, i have to say that the most important thing is the way this foundation makes your skin look. and if it is amazing, then yes, i will go with the more pricey candidate. because... think about it… it's your face! your face!!! and, i 'm sorry but it iiiiis nicer to talk to a cute (sephora) sales woman, who tells me her beauty secrets and about how she is a "broke-bitch". (i tend to bond with these ladies quite quickly.)

ok but here we go ith my verdict (i hope it comes across in the pictures…):

the first thing you might notice is, that the product on my right side (the first side view picture) matches my skin tone perfectly where the product on my left side is… a bit to dark. (but lets take into consideration that it is the end of winter and i will only be getting darker.) well, the product on my right side is bobbi brown's. they offer a color range of 9 tones. revlon… three. yeah…..

the application is very similar. i just massaged it into my skin, with my fingers. (i am not a fan of sponges, because they just suck up the product and grow bacteria. and i have just never gotten into brushes. for me the fingers work the best. that way i can feel the product.) if one felt a bit better, then i would say bobbi brown. 

but now the fact that is the one that actually made the decision… and really is the only one that counts:

the right side of my face, where i used bb cream broad spectrum by bobbi brown, you can clearly see (in real life it was even more apparent) that the product settled into my (bigger) pores, around my nose. not so nice. aaaand i also didn't like how it reacted where it can ito contact with my eye brows or my baby hair. (ok, i do have a good amount of peach fuzz… but i don't need my make-up to emphasize that... by covering it in nude colored cakyness…..) (you can kind of see what i mean in the frontal photo)

on the left side of my face (it is even very obvious in the picture) that it evened out my skin without looking like i am wearing anything. and there was no visible product in my pores or bay-hair. on top of that the photoready bb cream by revlon gave me a very lovely… glow. this was also pointed out by my independent judge. aka, my friend… without telling her which product i had used where. 

for me the winner is clear. 

i do have to note that the the way the bobbi brown product behaved on my skin, was not what i saw on my friends skin. so do keep in mind that everyones skin is different and will work differently with every product. i am veeeeeery happy with my revlon bb cream and will deffinately re buy it when i run out.

so if you are trying to decide between a more pricer and a more affordable product…… rememberer… price is not everything. all it has to to is make you look feel mote beautiful, and …… have fun with it!

mint party… little things that make me smile

 

i had my nails painted in absolutely shore by essie.... and the whole time i was thinking "this color reminds me of something......" a couple of days later i put on my avocado and oatmeal facial clay mask.

spring-licious

the days are getting longer… i am daring to leave the house without a hat... and it smells like spring! it is incredible how sunshine can transform the city and put a smile on peoples faces.

these are two looks to celebrate that this stupid cold weather is will soon be oooover!

why not go super colorful with pink… purple… and dark blue eye shadow, wiiiith turquois and light blue eyeliner....

….or this perfect-bright-pink lipstick….. mac's impassioned, together with a bright pink blush.

have fun with some color!

christa...

 there are so many reasons why i love christa. for one, she has a huuuuge heart and she hast this warmth about her. she is incredibly smart and has a similar view about... the world, as me. she is one of those people that you could never lie to... and would never want to ...or have to, for that matter. because she is so easy to talk to and is probably the most un-judgmental and humble people i know. i can laugh with her... and cry with her... and ask her for advice. christa is one of the few people who i believe when she says that she thinks i am more beautiful without make-up, because she will also be brutally honest when she dislikes something.

 

as if that wasn't enough reasons..... i looooove her cooking. the way i always describe it is: "you can taste the love". there is no way i could ever sit at the round wooden table in her kitchen and not have seconds ....ok, who am i kidding? i always have three servings.... no lie.

and then after dinner we play yahtzee!

 

little things that make christa smile:

sunshine - children's laughter - raindrops on the window, when they look like diamonds - swimming - quiet moments - when the remote control works (which it apparently, it was not while i was asking her about her little things) - nature in its smallest details

 

 

photo of christa taken by me, in munich, 2012

rosy-gold

some times happy acidents happen.... (like it did here) in thiiis case my eye shadow brush still had some leftover color on it from my make-up i did the day before. i know, doesn't sound especially glamorous, but like yesterays-make-up can look good, i guess yesterdays-make-up-brush can too.

eyes: aaaanyway, i applied bare escentuals, bare minerals eye color, in the buff on my lid and the remainder of mac's pigment, magenta madness (that was on my blending brush) created a quite nice rosy-gold. with a cleaneeeer brush i placed more of in the buff on my tear duct, along the roots of my lashes i lightly painted mac, eye shadow coppering and emphasized the outer half with a taupe-colored eyeliner (that i randomly picked up at a drug store in munich ...but has made me wonder what i ever did without it). the last touches were brown eyeliner on the upper waterline and mascara to achieve soft lashes.

lips: this is the first lipstick i ever bought. (yes, the first part of my make-up-life i ooooonly focused on eyes. ah, little did i know how many colors and textures i was missing out on! but you might have noticed, i am doing my best to make up for lost time...) this is mac, craving with mac, lip pencil in beet. (mmmmmmh, beets. sorry, little a.d.d.-moment....)

skin: only a couple of swirsls with my kabuki brush and bare minerals, original foundation.
back to the happy accident that happened with my eye shadow…. i used the same bright pink mac pigment.... for blush, which kind of tied it all together. and believe it or not… i got a couple of compliments on the redish-pinkish tones of my look that day.


have fun... with your happy accidents!

beeeees

the other day… over dinner... at the butcher's daughter my friend asked me what i thought about the bb foundations (one of those i-can-do-everything products). hmmmmm… i didn't really have any advice for her…. bad, bad blogger. but, i did my home work and will be posting a comparison of a drug-store and name-brand bb foundation. stay tuned.

...until then, enjoy these beautifully illustrated beeees from www.dailydropcap.com

you can do it

spring, you can do it!

go go go

all photos of new york in late winter... by me