On my Radar...

Kose by Addiction Spring 14 Eivissa Dream...

In contrast to the innocence of Jill Stuart Beauty, Addiction by Kose choses a hedonistic theme: Ibiza. I'm slightly dissapointed that there are only powder blushes around, not anything stick or *gasp*...the liquid. But I like look no. 1 "Dizzy Love".

If you go to Kose Addiction site you will launch into a drum-infused video of a bleachy-blonde model being made up (she's famous but I have no clue who she is...any readers?).

In a way, not that Ibiza-promotive: the repetitive application of either lipgloss or lipstick, but look 1 is a fresh, beachy neutral that I like, especially the eyes. Look no 2 is a bit too muddy IMO.

The eyeshadows might be a bit too tame or neutral to some but I really like Kose Addiction's quality. Also, these colours seem to look stellar on greenish eyes and will be glowy and radiant on various eyecolours

I think I will go for "Meeting at Dome" (=meet me at Dawn?) first: a delightful & glowy taupe.

Loving right now...

Molten Makeup looks...

I always have a good excuse to want my anti-ageing products to work well because I'd love to wear these looks without looking age-inappropriate, only a bit eccentric....

Jill Stuart Mix Blush Compact '14 Spring in Tulip Fields 08

I could write a whole story about why I bought this blush or I could show your the photo:

Or, ooooh Spring or It's purrrty!

But I'm not that superficial and it gotten a bit of nationality mixed in as well: Tulip Fields!

Nothing more quintessentially Dutch as a good dose of Tulips!

Still there has been a lot more that made me buy my second Jill Stuart Blush. I like my first and for some reason I haven't made a repetition buy until this one. Reason: price, and perhaps the bit of OTT on cuteness. I do not trust too cute & too pretty too much, or call me superficial on the superficial [get it?].

And there's often a good dose of innocent-talk when buying Jill Stuart. However, I've been getting used to this with Rouge Bunny Rouge. Even a mature/sleek brand like Laura Mercier has been talking about 'innocence' for Spring '14 so there must be something in the air that longs to the pre-twerking/booty-instagram era...Perhaps Tulips?

In Jill Stuart case, there's the Fairytale:

And the fairytale princess Abby Lee Kershaw as 'zee face'

Often a model who is a face is not that often used for body-modelling, but in Abby's case she's been a Victoria's Secret model too: Well, you definitely need a body to walk those shows so talk about lucky genes.

So I'd been discussing "inner beauty" as a resolution but the inside of the box is also decorated with cute flowers:

Which brings me to the palette:

 

I like that brush on a leash: it makes the innocence of the blush a bit more cheeky...

Close:

 

& Closer:

And the swatches:

I have been really surprised about the colour payoff and the glowiness. The closest match I can think of is the Le Metier de Beaute Kaleidoscope blush. I got to compare both of them. And I have to make better photos when there's some real light again but *people* it's January and I was too eager to swatch/discuss/review/blag about it today!

I was slightly worried because I've been reading Driveller's Kate review on the way she fell for pretty with Paul & Joe, and gotten "pretty [useless] balls" (my quotation, btw). Also, I was worried about too much 'orangy' tones but I love how the mix works out. Also, the 'red' colour is not as frightingly red as I imagined: it's a pinkish red that I love.

This will make a versatile palette when travelling: the yellow makes a slightly shimmery/speckly highlighter and the rest have enough versatility to use on it's own, and make the most 'universally peachy' combination when mixed.

Or,  a Fairytale come true! Now only the 'return of innocence' again...

#No-nobuyJanuary

As in the double negative is a positive...

I think I'm one of the few who hasn't attempted the #nobuyJanuary.  I love the idea of toning down on the consuming part, but I think January is too much of a moody month to go really dramatic on a no buy. I hope everybody who was on the #nobuyJanuary that it has been succesful; I'll might try in Februari or March :)

Left is a jar of Lyonsleaf Beautybalm. It's organic, and a multitasker. What I like about this balm is that you can use it as a oil/balm cleanser: I've been trying to cleanse with coconut-butter but I'm not that fond of it: it reminds me of cooking too much.  I hope this balm will be a better option for me.

On the right is a sample set of Kris d'Amour of face & body products. I cannot believe how generous the large bottle of Bath Oil is. I'm really loving his Soothing body butter and already ordered a larger size. There's still a discount code for 30% going on with "JANUARY2014". Samples are free but you'll pay for shipping.

 I'm also waiting for the Jill Stuart '14 blush in Tulip Fields 08: it has dainty flowers decorated on it

It will be my second Jill Stuart blush: I'm not always into pure prettiness but this time it wowed me over. And I love the delicate powder of JS: subtle radiance and a glow of colour.

Cowshed Slender Cow Body Sculpting Serum

Something about Cowshed's name is not that attractive to me. I like the outdoors and still I am a bit iffy to be associated with a 'slender cow', or any cow at all. Most of us know how the other end of the cow-variety will sound and it's often not too flattering.

Still, it was a freebie with something I cannot remember anymore, somewhere during Autumn '13.  It had 'target cellulite' on it and 'skinny', fair enough.

Also, Cowshed is a British brand and on the organic side of the spectrum. So me try try...

 

I had no idea what to expect from an organic 'body serum'. Their website lists these two ingredients as the main game players:

 Nice, there's Tamanu Oil again: It already passed around in my last post on haircare... 

Will this be 2014 IT-oil????

If you look at the rest of the ingredient list, you will see lots of essential oils like lavender, frankincense, lavendula & clary sage. This will add to a herbally fragance when using the milk. Also, various oils are known to have a 'deslacking effect, such as Clary sage & black pepper.

serum-like pump

It applies like a body-milk and not like a serum. I would not compare it to my usual 'cellulite-challengers' like Decleor or Vichy that often have a gel-like composition.

What I did notice is the subtle amount of shimmer:

Moody January light doesn't make it appear well but I agree that it would make one of those lovely leg-glowing potions during warmer weather.

I didn't see a real improvement on my body when using it: I am a bit of a Caffeine freak when it comes to Challenging Cellulite and it was not included in the 'Cowshed Slender Cow'. Most anti-cellulite potions are not miracle workers but I think caffeine is one of the ingredients that can help getting the extra water out of the cells. Ofcourse, in combination with exercise and a bit of body brushing/massage...

However, it makes a wonderfully moisturizing and herbally fresh body lotion that gives the right amount of glow to [slightly] lacklustre pre-spring skin.

Concluding to all this skinny talk, I'd add this wonderful photo of a very slender Lily Cole who reads to her bovines:

Photograph by Juergen Teller; styled by Camilla Nickerson; W magazine March 2009.

 I wonder what she reads to them and whether the milk will be better when reading to them [the new substainable farming?]...

Or, keep on grazing and don't be mooooo-dy for the rest of January...;)

The Argan Posse...

Oils and cosmetics products with Argan have been de rigueur since a while. Basically, they work and they have an excellent blendibility with other ingrediënts.

One of the lesser known hairoily serums I have been loving lately is Goldwell Elixir with Argan & Tamanu oil. Tamanu is probably the Argan of 2014, and both oils are brilliant for dry and damaged hair.

Goldwell is in the cheaper section than its posher sister Kerastase Ultime. Nevertheless, I've been preferring this thicker serum for a while before/during blowdrying in the ends of my hair. It prevents split ends, seals existing dry hair and gives an excellent sheen. I really like it's vanilla-like fragance: quite reminiscent of Morrocan Oil.

It's sold out at Beautybay right now: I got a better deal in this Dutch webshop for about €13. It's available at Goldwell hairdressers too.

Resolution '14: Improving my French (read: using more French Products)

The "learning a new language" is often one of the more fun and advantageous resolutions a person can have. I mean, you only might meet one person in your life that speaks the language, but you'd always have the opportunity to really eavesdrop upon them, or *shock* reply them.

I'll take it easy and will try to improve my French:

L-R: La Roche Posay mineral water spray - Rene Furtherer Naturalia dry shampoo - Nuxe Lipgloss -Phyto Secret de Nuit - Rene Furtherer Laque Vegetale (hairspray)

I'd like to focus on Rene Furtherer's Naturalia Dry Shampoo. It has been Belgian Blogger Mostly Sunny who gave it major heads up. The Belgians are as lucky to get full access to most French cosmetics, the Dutch only partly. So she has the opportunity to try out the multitudes of French skincare and compare them to other brands.See her review here.

I really like it and I agree on it's grease-mopping cum volumising strenghts without leaving white residue:

Selfies with products are soooo 2014!

I also have the Nuxe lipgloss 02 Rose Legendaire. Nuxe is mostly famous for its buttery lipbalm; the lipgloss is the smoother & coloured sister:

It optionally plumps out lips and feels like a treat instead of lipgloss.

And something more common; my road-size La Roche Posay thermal water:

A nighttime hairbalm: Phyto Secret the Nuit (fr= Night secret)

I really didn't like this one first because it smelled like lavendel-on-a-chemical-trip and made my hair greasy and unglossy. Then I just added it in the dryer ends, SPARINGLY, which made a difference.  It couples up as a stylingcream if you opt for a braid -> waves on straight hair that last...

Are your 2014 resolutions as intellectually challenging as mine?

A Sale Fave for the Cozy Candle Collection

Winter keeps most of us in the house so the house should be a comfortable place. I love using more candles during this period and to create a specific mood with a composition of fragance.

I had been quite curious about Timothy Dunn when I bought my Rituals candle (here). I was eager to buy it when it got on sale: I picked Mille Fleurs (a thousand flowers) as it's reminiscent of Bangkok's Flower Market and the plethora of  heady flowers being sold...

The composition is really flowery in a niche perfume manner: heady tuberose, a dainty 'white' note of lotus and some flowers I couldn't really sort out with my unpracticed nose. I think it evokes a spring-like mood. Winter has been soft and rather sunny so I expect the 'blue' of next monday to be a bit lighter. Adding the Thai flower-market scentual atmosphere it's simply a gorgeous first step towards spring...

.

I bought the Mille Fleurs candle on beautybay

Resolution '14: Focus on Inner Beauty (with Alex Beauty Formula N8)

I kinda have a songtune in my head when writing about my latest 'gimmick':"I'm a believer". I'm too young to thought it was sung by 'The Beatles' (instead of the Monkeys) but too old to think of Justin.

So I bought the Flower Remedy concoction from Alexis Smart. Flower Remedies are tinctures based on alcohol [yippie, alcohol...missed it since NYE!] and a whole lot of distilled flowers and herbs inside. Here is a more nuanced description of what I totally cramped into one sentence. 

It is based on Dr. Bach formulas and have been sold since the end of the 1930s. So in a way it is something that 'believers' think they really help, and the cynics think they won't.

Smart compared to my oftenly used Bach Rescue Remedy

Alexis has been so smart (ofcourse, this pun!) to embed her Californian roots and the need for beauty into a formula. Botox is soooo 2013 or maybe sooo 2012 and relaxing the face can also occur by releasing inner tension: when you do not feel the need to frown, you don't have to paralyse muscles either.

It is not the only remedy of her; she's having a variety and I was really between choices. But most formulas cannot be mixed up or combined (except for First Aid):

So I picked beauty as I felt really unpretty in December, even if I took major effort to be radiant. But you know, sometimes it isn't happening and some inner relaxation about the [obsession with] beauty might help, and that is a part of this formula

And how superficial I might sound, it sure seems to work on ms. Smart herself, the beauty formula:

Right now I have been using it for a week...I am not so obsessed about beauty, layers of makeup and blowdrying hair as I was in December. I think the muscles in my face look more relaxed. But I might be a believer... (but if the placebo helps...)

Ah, the song from the Monkeys

On the personal 'meh'-list...

There are some products that are loved and hyped all over, and you personally do not 'get it'... 

I have this with 'beachspray'...

My hair is quite 'caucasian'1 and a bit more straight than the average 'wavy' caucasian1. Wherever I see my fellow 'hairsisters' indulge in 'beachspray'/'surfpotion', etc...they become those beachy goddesses and somehow their wavy do's keep some shine.

In my hair it looks like my cat's been playing with it, peed over it aferwards and no wave will enter it whatsoever 

(even curling thongs will be like-> "not working with this potion")

As you can see above, I tried...

I picked the creme de la creme , 

used about 20%, 

put it in the whole of the hair (#craptastic), 

put it on roots only (#meh & itchy)

it smells like Maui, only the toilet freshener variety (strenght & composition)

 and then I just stared at its blue colour and dreamt of the real Maui...

(->travel fantasy, at least the blue colour does something)

So that happens and somehow I cannot face to bin this bottle...Ok, let's make that blue 'wave' again by just shaking the bottle from left to right?

 1. Caucasian= Whatever that means...lots of variety too

Resolution '14: Better Cleaning the face; the house is a different priority

Do we need yet another resolution? Yes, when it's in the cutest bottle!

Cleaning up is one of the key-elements of healthy skin and I've never really skipped on that. I only wanted to stop using 'the chemical' and leap over to 'the organic side' to see if my flake-prone skin would improve.

Since I had gotten a sample of cultproduct May Lindstrom 'the Clean Dirt' I wanted to explore cleansing grains/clays. May Lindstrom is quite expensive and also quite potent with warming spices and cleansing clays. That is fine on some days, but when skin is sensitive...soothing is a better option.

 The Rose Cleansing Polish has been branded as their most gentle and still effective cleansing scrub:

 

source: FrenchGirlOrganics

This sounds really credible looking at the ingredients such as softening Rose Hip, Hibiscus, Lavender and the ayurvedic wonderpowders such as Neem & Tulsi.

French Girl Organics has gotten a couple of a good reviews on various blogs. And ofcourse I've gotten too enamorated on the cute packaging...

Hence, my new powder habit is a healthy one:

 

I have only used it a couple of times; too little for a full review. However, I will discus it when I have used it more oftenly.

I bought it over on etsy from FrenchGirlCosmetics (here).

The Spoiled Christmas...

Before we forget about the gluttony & decadence that is called Christmas...

This perfume set By Killian is in synch with the real desire of Travel to Shanghai, same as the Australia resolution. Also, I will need to look for the Best of '14 Perfume winner in advance ; )

for Da Peepers....

Yes, after declaring LMDB Bauhaus as my fave pair of eyeshadows '13 I was bound to buy 'Carnaby Street' on sale!

How can I not love these set of glowy neutrals: I cannot get enough of the peach colour and the taupe below is a eyeshadow dream. All of the colours are winners in the 'subtle but not too subtle' range of eyemakeup!

Last, but not least...Chanel Ultra Rose:

I was craving for a vivid cool pink blush: it was either NARS Gaiety or Desire, and then I found this post from Indigo Kir Royale that made it Gaiety & Desire's baby, only in zeee Chanel quality.
 
Ps: Some of these were self-indulgences from either sales or mere lust-have-ism.