The Power of Makeup, my thoughts
When I started to be seriously interested in makeup and beauty products I never thought it would come with the whole package : new amazing friends, new creativity challenges and more fun, but sometimes telling your friends you are passionate about makeup can be seen as “inappropriate for your age“, “shallow“, or “pointless“, I had this kind of conversation more than once :
“What do you do on your free time?“
..this, that and I have a beauty/makeup blog“
“oh…. really ? you don’t look like that kind of woman…“
“hmmm and what would that particular kind be ?”
There is a sudden embarrassing silence, then I stop their agony and change subject before they have a stroke… Maybe I don’t match the “beauty model magazine” standards, or can you not enjoy makeup after you reached a certain age ?? Ok, I don’t wear a killer smokey eye on a daily basis but make up is not only intended for runways or movies and it’s not only meant to make you look fake and superficial, I just want to have fun and use it to make me look healthier, glamorous, yet natural.
I receive many emails from women in their 40+ who would like to start using make up but who just don’t know where to start. Unfortunately I am no professional, all I know I got it from talking to make up artists or to sales assistants at the beauty counters, getting advice from Youtube gurus and watching nice and useful videos so if I can manage a nice make up look, you definitely can.
My needs were different some years ago, now I focus more on anti-ageing tutorials and products more adapted to mature skin. It depends what you are expecting from makeup, just make you feel better ? more confident ? younger ? fresher ? desirable ? or just conceal a few flaws ? Lisa Eldridge gives great advice on her channel so just try Youtube and search for what you want to do and try it for yourself. Tammy is a sweetheart, I just recently discovered her channel, I can’t believe I didn’t see it before, a great resource for anti-ageing advice and she is so fun to watch. If you know of any other gurus that give anti-ageing tips, please share !
I will be 42 in 2 weeks therefore today I am simply trying to achieve an enhanced version of me, a fresher and healthier one, exactly like Wayne says here. I cannot pull off strong and heavy makeup looks at my age but I can still look sexy with a smokey eye, there is a beautiful and hot smokey eye for everyone, it’s just a matter of getting to know your features, choosing the appropriate products for you and using efficient make up tools also helps a lot, it takes time but it’s so worth it.
Chanel Printemps Précieux
I knew Printemps Précieux was going to be very tempting for me, when I saw the collection in person I wasn’t disappointed at all.
Here are the items I have selected, a lot, but surprisingly all were interesting – even the Raffinement quad in the EU version :
As you may know already, Chanel Poudre Signée is a masterpiece. The compact is slightly bigger than other compacts like the Lumière d’artifices or the Ombres Tissées, but the product weights 8g, vs 18g for the Lumière d’artifices.
Both the color and the texture are exquisite. That’s the glow I am looking for, natural glow with a very subtle iridescence.
Summer 2012 favorites
I don’t know about you, but here in Switzerland you can clearly feel that summer 2012 is over.
I thought I would write a post on products I have been using the most during the last season, this can involve LE items, older season items, early fall releases… I just took all the products that have been used and loved the most and here they are :
Holiday post – Beauty items packed lightly…
I used to pack too much makeup in the past but I am getting better, this time I really have to pack even lighter, I don’t have the choice since we are leaving on our motorbikes. Not my favorite means of transport but next year I will do something more “me”, maybe New York or the Maldives ?
I started packing, even though I could absolutely leave home only with my moisturizer, my mascara and my lip balm, I decided to pack some more things, still too many but let’s see what I can do…, so far it sums up to :
10 Long lasting plum, violet, purple or aubergine pencil eyeliners
Some years ago I was afraid of wearing anything else than brown or black eyeliner. Recently, after watching many Youtube tutorials on purple looks, I started playing with them until I finally managed to create fun looks still appropriate for my age.
I loved to wear a beautiful and colorful eyeliner but since I was wearing contact lenses, of course one eye always feels more or less comfortable than the other when you are wearing lenses… and that was causing my eyeliner to fade more on one eye than the other… after 4 hours I could already see that happening and it was upsetting, I have no time and I don’t want to have to reapply make up during the day.
I first started wearing the Clinique or Estee Lauder long lasting eyeliners, then I crossed borders and discovered Urban Decay and By Terry in London, today I am in love with the Chanels and the Addiction !
By Terry Gloss Terribly Shine – HG Alert
I need to quickly write this little post because I realized that my HG gloss is a Limited Edition from Spring 2012…. NOOO !
If you are still looking for a great gloss, you might still have some time to try and grab these. I am preparing my shopping list for my London trip and this is on top of it, together with Illamasqua’s foundation 
I don’t know how I managed to get my hands on so many glosses that I don’t even use, from Laura Mercier, Mac, Tom Ford, Burberry, Bare Escentuals, actually, I am not a gloss person at all but since I am a matte lipstick one, I like to add just a little touch of gloss. I also hate when it’s sticky and I cannot bear to feel sparkles on my lips. I think that today I could throw away all my other glosses and just keep these By Terry and I wouldn’t even mind.. that’s how much I love them.
They say that this formula is anti-aging, firming and volumizing… it DOES look good on the lips, it really does. I can feel all this happening on my lips for sure, well anti-aging means “younger looking lips” to me… When I first wrote about them, I already liked them a lot, but today when I am not wearing them, I feel like something is missing… that’s what I call addiction.
I have been reaching for Gold Digger nearly everyday since I got it, I wear it on top of other lipsticks or on top of lip liner, or just on its own if I don’t have time for more.
My current favorite lip liners
I am always in the hunt for the best lip liner, I love when after 4 to 5 hours I can still see the definition and the color on my lips, I am very happy if they last that long since I am always playing with my lips, drinking or talking too much
I can finally say that I am happy with the ones I own, they have very decent long-lasting wear and I consider them flattering for my skin tone.
I use them to fill my lips entirely, as a base for a lipstick or a gloss. They need to be non-drying, drink-proof and if possible, kiss-proof… better be ready
I have 5 lip liners that I reach for all the time, I will show you my 5 top favorites but also some of the ones that I like but I don’t wear as often.
These are my top 5 favorites :
- Rouge Bunny Rouge Esteban
- Make Up for ever 1C
- Chanel Naturel
- By Terry Rosy Nude
- Chanel Bois de Rose
A picture with my favorites and the others that I also enjoy wearing :
From left to right :
- Nars Rue Bonaparte (to line the outer lips for better definition)
- Mac Beurre (to contour)
- Rouge Bunny Rouge Esteban : flesh toned peach, RBR describes it as “metallic” but it has a natural shiny finish on my lips.
- Make Up For Ever 1C : light neutral beige, matte finish, lasts forever …
- Chanel Natural 34, beige, pinky-nude, satin finish, goes with everything and very very good long-lasting power.
- By Terry Rosy Nude, well… rosy-nude color… matte finish, flattering and long-lasting.
- Chanel Bois de Rose, deep rose with some red, the finish is more satin than matte to me, I find it extremely flattering, it brightens my whole face and has become my HG. Very long-lasting, released with the Spring 2012 collection but I have been told it will be permanent… Thank God !
- Edward Bess Natural, the finish is like a creamy satin and very comfortable, it’s supposed to be an universal shade, I like it but I think it has a bit too much brown for filling my lips with, and I don’t use it often since the color does not last at all on my lips.
- Rouge Bunny Rouge Vasco, cherry blossom powder pink, matte-satin finish on my lips, like all the RBR, this one is very long-lasting, will be gorgeous for a pinky-nude lipstick for the summer !
- Rouge Bunny Rouge Marco, medium cool raspberry, pure-matte they say in RBR site but the finish is not like MUFE C1, this one still has like a satin finish to me… I use it with darker lipsticks or to define the contour a little more precisely when I need to.
- Rouge Bunny Rouge Roald, pale mauve, pure-matte, they say again, but to me it’s like it has kind of a satiny finish.
- Catrice Lost in the Rosewood 030, it’s the cheapest of all, delivers a very natural color, with a satiny finish, but does not last that long on my lips.
- N7 Nude 20, Lisa Eldridge created this color for N7, she wanted the perfect nude lip liner and that’s what it is. The only problem is that it does not last long on my lips unfortunately.
None of them are drying on my lips, they are all comfortable and most of them very long-lasting.
Swatches of all of them together :
By Terry – Lip Gloss formulas and some swatches
I have recently discovered the By Terry lip glosses, I have tried the 3 formulas below and I will share some swatches and my little experience with you. I am not completely crazy about lip gloss in general, I don’t really need it in my life, but if you love lip gloss this brand can be of interest to you.
Unfortunately they are very expensive and I also recommend you try the different formulas before you purchase because if you don’t like them, you will be wasting a lot of money.
My lip gloss profile
My all time favorite glosses are Rock & Republic Sexy Beast, Runaway and Mistress, Burberry Blush, By Terry Gold Digger.
I wear gloss on a regular basis but with a very light hand application, I don’t want to look tacky or sticky …
One thing I totally hate is when you can feel the sparkles on your lips and they have that awful gritty sensation… sparkles yes but they shouldn’t be gritty !
At the By Terry counter they have 3 formulas :
Recent Comments