you can do it

spring, you can do it!

go go go

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

5 dollar happiness

so here is finally a picture of my new hair color. i know you have been dying to see it ....unless of course, you follow me on instagram, in which case you can call me out on being totally behind on my posts. and i know, super-professional-blogger style instagram-selfie.... but it kind of goes with my super-professional-die-job... in my bathroom with hair-die for $5.29. yes ladies fiiive dollars. i used ion color brilliance brights semi-permanent hair color. 

...not too shabby, hu? it was more or less spontaneous. i did my roots first and then the ends to get a subtle baby-ombre. ok i did have to scrub the entire bathtub after wards (which was kinda suuuper annoying), because it looked like a certain scene... from a certain movie... called psycho.
 

anyway, i love it. so there. not that easy to find thaaat much happiness... with only 5 bucks. 
well, 5 bagels are pretty awesome… or a matcha green tea latte from doughnut plant (yes, i aaam able to go in and not(!) buy a doughnut. sounds like no big deal? i dare you to try it.)… and of course a guaco taco form brooklyn taco.  
yes yes, those are 5 dollars well spent.

in the picture you can see my friend emerald and i, freezing our butts off. 

i am wearing escada sunglasses and a self-knit scarf.

my big ring is from my special jewelry-lady ching, the spike (my favorite) is lady grey (from the helmut lang store) and the green one is a flea-market- find.

 

what do you spend 5 dollars/euros/punds on, that makes you really happy? because lets not forget my (and therefor (in my mind) also yours. jk.) new years resolution! to smile more!

quick reminder

just a quick reminder that the next summer will(!) come. ……..right?

summer of 2009, lago di garda, italy in vintage dress

summer of 2012, wolfgangsee, austria… workin' my escada sport straw hat and tom ford sunglasses

(they are kind of the more modest (but equally as fabulous) version of the ones i bought last fall)

summer of 2013, rockaway beach, new york ...with my flea market sunnies and that ach-so-perfect-beach-hair

because i am sick of looking like this......

my escada sport coat and self-knit scarf are keeping me warm…… but, smudged make-up, wet hair and  crooked glasses just ain't cute….

but whatever the weather… don't let it stop you from having a fuuuun friday night!

polar vortex shmortex

 

 

all pictures of new york's polar vortex ... taken by me

clean winter

i get it... gone are the days of bohemian summer looks... with bronzed skin... beach hair and... bindis (i do miss my bindis......). i am in the mood for a very clean sleek look.



skin: I am going for the porcelain skin look, by evenly working foundation into my skin, as well as matting it with powder. using only a touch of frosted light pink blush on my cheek bones.

eyes: for this icy shimmer on my eyes i like using mac, paints in stilife. i have had this little guy for a while but never really used it. honestly, because it is not toooo easy to apply evenly. sorry, mac.... but multiple mac sales ladies have agreed with me on that. what is nice about it, is that it is a good product to use all over the lid. also as a base. this is in fact the ooooonly product i don't first use my beloved eye shadow base. since i apply it with my fingers (with the brush it is even harder to get even and it just gews-up my brush too much) it is a good little friend for your over-night make-up bag. on the bottom waterline i drew a light blue line with a eyeliner pencil.

lips: still not sick of my stila, stay all day liquid lipstick, aria

nails: essie, wicked

how did your look change in the winter?

white shadows

all photos of snowy new york by me

what is "holiday make-up"?

there are soooo many ideas for “holiday  make-up” out there… but honestly, i don’t know what "holiday make-up" is. party make-up? dinner make-up? naturally beautiful? sparkly  christmas inspired?  but also, i have never been invited to a christmas party (they are not exaaactly common in Germany…). until now. so i had to ask myself, what look i wanted to have while dinking punch and decorating cookies. i took it as a reason to do a completely different look than i usually would do.

hair: i straightened my hair (for the first time, since i had it cut). parted it on the side and sprayed it with kevin.murphy, shimmer.shine, repairing shine mist.

skin: very even pale matt skin, with subtle sculpting.

brows: strong graphic brows

eyes: i only used black color for my eye make-up. a very thick black liquid eyeliner and black shadow on the movable lid. i kept the bottom lid and lashes very bare. something i very rarely do is falsies. the few times i had fake eyelashes on i wanted to rip them off after ten minutes (which is usually what i ended up doing) i can handle individual lashes, though. that is what i used here.

lips: berry colored lip stain and lip liner.

what did your holiday make-up look like?

gray sweater and jeans

this is the winter-version of my grey t-shirt and jeans post.

the look: for a gray-sweater-and-jeans kind of day.... make-up that adds some color to my look…. fun colors like green and blue and purple on the eyes with a nude lips

skin: in this cold dry winter air i have only been using tinted moisturizer.... on the apples of my cheeks i brushed a light icy pink blush.

brows: defined brows without making them look too hard.... using medium brown eye shadow to fill them in. with an angled brow brush i made sure to draw a clean line along the bottom and finished them with brow gel.

eyes: mac, juxt... a light green on the movable lid and along the bottom lashes. when i use non-skin-like colors i like to blend them at the edges with a nudeish tone. that is also what i did here. at the inner sides of the lid i loosely brushed a light shimmering pink. for my eyes i don't like a strong eyeliner without defining my crease... using a brush with a pencil-shaped tip, i drew a light brown arch along my brow bone and blended it with a blending brush and a small amout of medium brown. to connect the outer end of the arch to the corner of my eye i swept on mac, swimming. now the liquid eyeliner... shimmering bright blue with the cat-eye swoosh. to the bottom edge of the swoosh i also added a little line of purple. black mascara for soft lashes. i still didn't feel like it looked... finished.... so i added highlights on the inner half of my bottom lid.

lips: to not add eeeven more color to this look i chose a sheer-nude lipgloss and lined only the top lip with mac, pro longwear lip pencil, electra.


have fun

my burlingtons… little things that make me smile

ever since i was little... i have had a thing for socks..... (ask my mom).

now, burlington socks is all i wear.

 

choosing from all of these colors always makes me smile, and is one reason to be less sad, that it is not summer anymore...

 

 

picture of (part of) my burlington-sock-collection, by me

 

 

do you have something in your closet, that makes you smile every time you wear it?

foxy brown and dr. hauschka

last week i got my nail did. and when i say "did", i mean "diiiiid".  

i have always wanted long nails. an when i say "long", i mean "looooong-aaass nails"... ever since foxy brown in hot spot. man, i loved that video…. and her (ask my sis). in hindsight i would say it was a girls-crush. and watching it agin, just now, i gotta say… still love it.

anyway, i realize i am not the first person to get fake nails (even though it is totally exciting for me…… never thought i would actually have fake nails….. and as we know, i usually don't even get a pedi) but it brought me to talk to you, about hand care, and how hard it is to maintain nice hands and nails in the winter. i am really lazy with putting on hand cream, so i need one that is really good and effective. 

the one and only hand cream you will ever need is by dr. hauschka. i am not referring it because it is all natural… and they have "a mission"…  or because it is exclusive… and expensive. but because it immediately goes in your skin, and leaves it sooo much smoother (not just for half an hour). and most of all, it doesn't leave a greasy layer on your hands, that you feel every time you wash them. i hate that….

the nail polish is opi, hopelessly in love. 

green and red (don't worry... this is not a "holiday make-up" post)

the look: green eye shadow and red lips… still inspired by michelle violy harper (still working on her perfect complexion and those cheekbones… man… those cheekbones……)

skin: because of the dry winter air i am keeping my skin routine quite basic… just with tinted moisturizer and a little bit of powder under my eyes and over my bottom lashes to make them… disappear. when i use red lipstick i like using my very-bright-red blush... mac, powder blush, frankly scarlet.

brows: dark brown and balck eye shadow with brow gel

eyes: for a clean base i start with cream colored shadow from my cease to my brows and define the crease with a shimmery light pink. the green i used on the movable lid was mac, eye shadow, juxt. it is a good not-too-in-your-face-shimmery lime. i didn't want to use black eye liner…… so i took a dark bordeaux lip liner and plum colored eye shadow and drew them along the roots of my top lashes. the bottom lid stayed completely free from shadow and mascara.

lips: i only used this suuuuper fantastic liquid lipstick in fiery, by stila... that i already raved about here.


have fun

melting pigments

the look: shimmery purple pigments riming the eyes, with nude glossy lips

skin: this icy wind in new york, is really doing a number on my skin... i started using less powder after i work foundation into my skin, and that seems to help. i only dust the area under my eyes, to keep the foundation or concealer from creasing. i also only used a light amount of blush.

brows: i just had them treaded yesterday... i really don't enjoy it it huuuurts ('cus i am a big wimp, as we know...). but maaan they look good! here, i additionally filled them in a little with dark brown eye shadow.

eyes: with a combination of a shimmering light and medium pink i covered my lids from the lashes to the brows. then, with a crease brush (a brush that has medium to short bristle that make a pointed shape), i placed mac pigment---- along my lashes, drew a darker line with black eyeliner on the roots and then added another layer of the pigment. this time with a shorter bristled brush. this way the layers of shimmering pigments and eyeliner melt together and create a more smudged shadowing. when i applied mascara i made sure to coat the roots, buy wiggling the wand a bit, before pulling it towards the tips.

lips: i applied the perfect sheer-nude lip gloss cinique, super balm moisturizing gosss, rootbeer and for more dimension i drew mac, pro longwear lip pencil, in electra over the gloss.


have fun

munich... dressed in white

since it hasn't snowed in new york, yet….. 

here are some pics of munich... dressed in white

all pictures of munich, germany, by me