MupNorth blogging

CareProst Lash Enhancer - After 4 Weeks

2012-01-15T22:30:00.010+01:00

This is a follow-up post on my Quest to Longer Lashes.

I have been using Careprost (same stuff as Lumigan) lash enhancer for 4 weeks now. I can definitely tell my lashes are longer. Not a lot longer, but my lashes reaches further up on the lash curler than they did before (easy way of measuring). The full effect doesn't come until you've used this for at least 8 weeks, so I'm waiting on the big results!

Here are the before and after pictures thus far:

There's a difference, right? I think you can tell more on the first picture with my eyes open.
Besides seeing a difference in length, my lashes seems fuller - as if I have grown more lashes.
Four weeks ago it really didn't matter if I used YSL Faux Cils mascara or any of the other wonder mascaras that lengthens your lashes. They were just too short! Now I can really build some length! Yey!

So far I'm not experiencing any discoloration on the eyelid and no red, irritated eyes.

I will keep you posted in another 3-4 weeks :) I hope you will be able to see huge difference by then!

♥ Michelle

EOTD: Naked 2

2012-01-15T15:43:00.008+01:00

Here is an easy look I tried on today with my new Urban Decay Naked 2 palette.

(I promise I wasn't going for the "oily t-zone look".. haha When I saw these pictures I realized I forgot to powder..)

* I used Urban Decay Sin on the entire lid. I'm not sure if I like it or not.. I got it yesterday and was slightly shocked to see how shimmery it was.. But I'll give it a chance
* Foxy (matte cream) all over the lid up to the eyebrow
* Bootycall (shimmery champagne) on 1/3 of the inner eye area, tear duct and highlight for the brow bone.
* Verve (shimmery beige) on the middle of the eyelid
* Pistol (shimmery grey-brown) on outer half and pulled into the crease. I also applied this under the eye along the lash line
* Blackout (matte black) in the outer-v. Blended in with Pistol

* Eyeliner: For the waterline I used Urban Decay eyeliner in brown (the one that came with the Naked 1 palette) and Bobbi brown black gel eyeliner along the upper lash line.

Mascara: Maybelline Defina-a-lash in black

Concealer: Mac Studio Finish concealer in NW30 and NW20 (blended)

I actually forgot (!) to use my Estee Lauder lash primer! As you know that is one of my Holy Grail products, so I don't know where my head was..

Speaking of lashes, I'm noticing my lashes are starting to get longer! YEY! You wont get the full effect until you've used the lash enhancer for at least 7 weeks, but I can already see a difference.
I'll soon me doing an "after" post on the Careprost.

♥

I hope you had a great weekend! My weekend was super lazy! I wanted to work out, but I'm still slightly sick and on antibiotics so I didn't want to push it. In stead I had a weekend long date with the couch, several girlie films and now my little girl is coming home after spending the weekend with ~~the jerk~~ her dad.

~~Yes I'm still there, where I'm calling him names on my blog and thinking bad thoughts about him... I'm sure I'll one day get over it. But that time is not now.~~

Have a great week!! ♥

Sleek Au Naturel Palette

2012-01-04T15:23:00.005+01:00

In September Sleek Makeup launched their first nude collection and came out with a gorgeous nude eyeshadow palette, Au Naturel.
I didn't even realize that until the week before Christmas when I accidentally stumbled upon a blog post reviewing the palette. Assuming it was sold out everywhere (which apparently it is), I went straight to Ebay and got mine. A part from the back eyeshadow being broken, I LOVE it!

What makes this so great is that it's got 8 matte colors!! That is good news for everyone past 25 years old and those with heavy eyelids or monolids. The colors are amazing and same goes for the quality. You can see my other Sleek palettes here and here.

'

I wanted to do some EOTD (Eye of the Day) looks for you from both the Naked 2 palette and this, but I'm currently sick on my third week. Makeup is not even on my agenda these days... But I will get to it!

♥ Michelle

New Year Resolutions 2012

2012-01-04T13:40:00.006+01:00

Those are a few of my new year resolutions...
It's a long list, but they are carefully selected and things I have thought about for a long time..

I'm ready to commit!

I'm going to hold myself accountable and bring back this list at the end of this year and see what it is I can check off. Some of them are going to be a real challenge, but when there's a plan, there's a way!

- and wishes will get you no where ladies!!

Top 11 From 2011

2011-12-28T18:15:00.020+01:00

(Click the picture for a closer look)

I love posts like these so I hope every one of you with a blog will do them!

To get a spot on my favorite list of the entire year, the product must have been used consistently over the year. If you have followed my blog for a while, some of these products you have seen several times before on Favorite lists and even Holy Grail lists.

The products are listed in random order.

1. Max Factor eyeshadow, #2 Pebble
I have mentioned this many times before. This is a Holy Grail eyeshadow that is a must in my life. I've been wearing this for 10-14 years. It's the perfect base-color for my lid (except Summer time when I'm usually really tanned).

2. Benefit High Beam
I collect highlighters and this is one that I keep coming back to. Why? Because of it's finish. It leaves a perfect "moist" and youthful sheen. Because it's liquid it blends perfectly with fluid foundations. Last seen here.

3. Elisabeth Arden Green Tea Refreshing Body Lotion
This bodylotion smells so fresh and clean, especially for Summer (although I use it all year round). You can also get this in Body Butter. This is my second bottle. (16.8 oz/500ml)

4. Redken Extreme Rescue Force
Ever since I went from black hair to what-ever-color-that-I-have-now with monthly highlights, I use hair treatment 1-2 times a week. Redken is really good for treating damaged hair.

5. Mac Blot Powder
This blot powder compact is always in my purse. It doesn't leave any color, but it will leave your skin matte for hours. A must-have for brides and every one else who gets an oily t-zone during the day.

6. Urban Decay Naked Palette
This is a no brainer. The perfect palette for ever occasion and perfect for every day makeup when you just need to grab something fast and foolproofed. Take a closer look here.

7. Elisabeth Arden Lash Primer
Also a Holy Grail product that I've used for years and years. Last seen here and on 18 other blogposts when I searched my blog.
You have now seen my skimpy lashes (oh, please let me remind you! HERE) so obviously I need all the help I can get making them look fuller and longer. This product will do just that when applied before your mascara.

8. L'oréal Silver Shampoo
This is the only shampoo I use and have been using for the past two years ever since I started highlighting my hair. My hair has got crazy amount of red pigments, so in order to keep the color cool and as beige as possible I use this dark purple shampoo. The purple counteract any brassiness, but it will also dry out your hair a little. Enters the hair treatment!

9. Kérastase Elixir Kultime
If you like Maroccan Oil you will love this. I bought the Maroccan oil first and the smell made me want to slowly kill myself. This on the other hand, is divine! It also contains argan oil and nourishes the hair and makes it really soft. My first bottle is almost empty and I just bought a little travel sized one that I keep in my purse so I can apply at work too (I apply it to my ends all the time!)

10. Brows in Bloom by Anastasia Beverly Hills
This is a brow powder palette. I have it in the color Brunette 1 and 2. It also comes with a brow wax and gold colored highlighter cream (that I never use...). It was first featured in my October Favorites 2009 (!) and seen here

11. Urban Decay Primer Potion
This has been a favorite eyeshadow primer ever since I first tried it. Since we don't have the brand Urban Decay in Norway, I have been looking for an equally good primer available to my clients here. So far the closest favorite is Guerlain eye primer seen on previous favorite's lists here and here.

So there you have it!

Probably not a lot of exciting products, but they have been favorites this year.
Now that I have purchased the new Naked 2 palette and David Sandler's watercolour liquid blush, I think I'll have a good list for next year ♥

Favorite Christmas Movies

2011-12-23T22:26:00.011+01:00

First, let's give a cheer for collages!! Yey!!

These are my must-see Christmas movies every year! I have already watched a few of them. Right now Bridget Jones is running in the background on my TV, but it will probably air 3 times more before this holiday is over!

My three favorite movies must be The Holiday, While You Were Sleeping and The Family Stone. Sigh! What they all have in common is Christmas, love, drama, amazing handsome men and happy ending! I alway cry lots of happy tears watching these films ~~and curse my single life after~~

The two movies (bottom row to the right) are a must-see for every Norwegian and has been for decades. No Christmas without it! First is Cinderella and second one is a famous musical called Mama.

I know you are probably wondering where is Love Actually? I have tried to watch that film five times and fall asleep after the first 10 minutes e v e r y single time!! So now I've given up! I will put this in my I-don't-like-it-box with Sex and the City.. Yes, you heard me. I saw probably 4 episodes of SATC and hated it. Still do.

What is a must-see Christmas film for you? I'd love to add to my list ♥

My Life Lately, According to my iPhone

2011-12-23T18:38:00.003+01:00

Urban Decay Naked 2 palette - Mac Dupes

2011-12-20T21:34:00.012+01:00

Warning! Picture heavy!

I promised I would do this blog post of dupes for the new Urban Decay Naked 2 palette, so here it is!

If you want to see my blog post on Mac dupes for the first Urban Decay Naked palette, it's here.

All though I own every brown Mac eyeshadow and a total of 130 Mac eyeshadows in general, it was a difficult task to find dupes for these. Some of them are just really unique! Personally, I'm pretty happy about that, otherwise there would be no point of me owning this palette, right?

Here goes...

Pictures above belong to Temptalia.com

Snakebite and Busted were really difficult to dupe, as you can see..
I even think I used a limited edition Mac eyeshadow for this one: Magnetic Fields. Sorry!

Same goes with the dupe for Pistol where i used Smoke and Diamonds. That was a perfect dupe, but the Mac eyeshadow was a Limited Edition...

If you are undecided about getting this palette, let me help you:

GET IT!!

My favorite colors in the palette:
* Foxy: great for an all over the eye base color
* Bootycall: amazing highlight color
* Tease: perfect crease color
* Snakebite: gorgeous rich, dark brown
* Suspect: a unique color I don't have in my collection
* Pistol: perfect combination of brown, gray

Quest to Longer Lashes, Part 2

2011-12-18T17:37:00.015+01:00

For several years I've had really long lashes thanks to lash enhancers. I've been mainly using Lilash until it all of a sudden stopped working. I don't know what happened, if I got some fake Lilash from Ebay or my lashes just got immune to this growth stuff.
I talked to several other beauty bloggers who I knew had been using Lilash for a few years, and they too had experienced the same thing. So I stopped using it and thought I'd give my lashes a little break.

After growing back my natural lashes I realized exactly HOW SHORT they are! I pile on mascara and they just wont get any longer. I hate it! So, time to get the lashes back to the spidery length ;)

I have lost my faith in Lilash (or at least Lilash purchased from Ebay...), so this time I'm trying out something new and that's Careprost. It's the same thing as Lumigan and Latisse, except this is the generic brand - and a third of the price. It has great reviews on Makeup Alley with lots of before -and after pictures and 142 reviews. My beautiful friend Heidi (check out her You Tube channel: jalapena2007) has been using Latisse for years now too, and her lashes are still long and wonderful!

It comes in a tiny eyedrops bottle and you apply it along the lash line with a little eyeliner pencil every night on clean eyes. As with all of the lash enhancers, you have to be patient and wait about 7-8 weeks before seeing the big change. After 16 weeks you should get maximum length.

I can't wait!!

I bought this from a really sweet girl that I can highly recommend. Click HERE to get to her web store.

Before I show you my embarrassing before pictures, let me remind you how they did once look like with Lilash.. Notice how far past the crease they are.....

And then my sad, sad lashes today.....

Once you've had super long lashes it's so so hard to get back to this...

Previous posts on my lashes can bee seen here, here, here and here.

Are you using any lash enhancers? If so, what brand? What is your experience with it?

NARS All About Cheeks Palette

2011-12-17T18:24:00.008+01:00

I can't resist anything in a palette, so I had to get this. It's limited edition and sold out on Sephora, so I got it on Ebay last week. Yesterday it arrived and it didn't disappoint........

Hungry Heart Duo is a highlighter with a goldish undertone. It's very pretty and has little tiny specks of glitters in it, which I'm sure is pretty in Summer. Right now, (in my opinion), glitters and bling on your face looks a little out of place in Winter time.. or maybe that's just me ;)

Orgasm probably doesn't need an introduction being a legendary blush. This has won several awards for best blush numerous times. In my opinion, it's okay. A GTH product, but not a HG one. (GTH = Good To Have. HG= Holy Grail).

Desire is one of my two favorite blushes from this palette. It reminds me of Bobbi Brown's Peony blush - which I looove. It looks scary, but with a light hand this will give you a very youthful, beautiful flush on the apples of your cheeks.

Casino. When I swatched this bronzer the first time, I thought - why haven't I heard of this before? It doesn't look like much in the palette, but it's really pretty. So smooth and gives a perfect bronzy glow. Can't wait to try this one out more.

Super Orgasm...... where to begin. Can you say GLITTER CHUNKS! It's basically Orgasm with a bottle of glitter, from the craft store, stirred in! One thing that I did notice though is that you can swipe the glitter off with your brush after you've applied the blush.. So maybe, it might be used after all.

Sin looks like a very grown-up, boring blush, but it was really nice on. My second favorite blush in the palette. Very natural and perfect for an office look if you want to tone things down, but look put together... in your face that is.. I know I'll be using this with a bit of Desire on the apples.

Today I got Naked 2 in the mail! The angel choir sang when I opened that palette.. seriously.
I can't wait to show you, and of course do another dupe blog post where I find MAC eyeshadow dupes for the Naked 2 colors like the first palette :)

Winners of the GiveAway!

2011-08-04T10:51:00.003+02:00

Thank you girls for entering! :)

The winners were chosen by using Stattrek.com
And the winning numbers are:

- And the lucky girls are:

♥ the outlaw jc
♥ lil' Miss Petunia
♥ Stine Marie
♥ Nadeen

I'll send you an e-mail to collect your addresses!

♥ Michelle

Norway My Heart

2011-07-22T22:43:00.003+02:00

Thanks for your prayers and thoughts.

- Michelle

Put a Cap On It!

2011-07-12T23:44:00.010+02:00

Recently I discovered something called key caps! This is the cutest idea ever, and must be a Japanese invention as they are the Masters of Cuteness when it comes to things like this.
Such a great way to personalize your keys. They are cheap and you can get what ever kind you desire on Ebay.

Tip for the man: Presenting your girlfriend with the key to your apartment: but a cap on it! You will score extra points for cuteness ♥

My keys.. wish I had a bunch:

More:

UPDATED! Giveaway!! Nail polish!

2011-07-12T21:24:00.010+02:00

Since I'm ~~probably~~ the worst blogger of the year - being MIA all the time, I'm hosting a giveaway ~~to buy your love~~!

I'm giving away four nail polishes to four of my wonderful, faithful readers!

The brand is Isadora, which is a brand I don't think you have in the US (correct me if I'm wrong). Their nail polish is great!! They last long, doesn't streak, great colors and the brush is wide - which I love!

~~The colors I'm giving away is two of my favorite one: white and silver!~~

I'm deciding to give away any color of your choice! Not just the choice between white or silver. They have some amazing, fun Summer colors! (see pictures below!). You can also visit Isadora's website to see other colors.

(If you have already entered and want a different color, I will contact you to confirm the color you want, if you are the winner. So don't worry ♥)

I really didn't think I would love the white nails trend, but I'm loving it! Super white nails! ♥
No. 649 Glamour Wihte:

This is the silver color (no. 716 Beach Khaki):

All you have to do to win is be a follower of my blog and leave me a message letting me know which color you would like and your e-mail address.

I will draw the winner in three weeks (since it's Summer vacay for many of you). - August 2nd!

I hope everyone are having a great Summer or Winter (my gals in Australia!) ♥

Favorite Healthy Snack

2011-05-26T20:56:00.005+02:00

PB - Banana Snack Wrap

If you're on the Tone It Up plan you are very familiar with this snack. I can eat this for dinner (and I have) because it's so good!

It'll curb your appetite between breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner. A great post work-out snack too.

Ingredients:
Peanutbutter (preferably with no sugar)
whole wheat tortilla
1/2 banana (greener bananas are better than ripe ones, because of the GI level).

Just spread - slice - wrap -and eat!

What is your favorite healthy snack?

Soleil Tan De Chanel & Chanel Lip Balm

2011-05-24T19:45:00.012+02:00

Today I treated myself with two luxury items from Chanel, the Soleil Tan De Chanel (Summer 2011 - Bronzing powder compact) and the Hydramax + Active Nutrition lip balm

The Chanel bronzing powder caught my eye immediately because of the gorgeous colors. Since it's a limited edition I had to get it! I got the lightest color 547 Bronze Rosé, but I wish I had got the darker one. It just looked really dark at the makeup counter (and I didn't even swatch!), but once I tried it on and realized how sheer this color is, I could have easily pulled off the darker one.

I tried using the pink color as a blush, and it was really pretty. Maybe - just maybe, a little bit ashy pink, since I have a tan and it's on the lighter side (think Nars Orgasm).

It will work as an amazing highlighter on a tanned face, collar bones and shoulders ♥

Left: swatched one by one. Right: mixed together

Word of advice: Toss the brush immediately! You would think for this price and brand that Chanel were able to make a super soft brush to come with it...well this can clean out your stained pots and pans. It's harsh! You can even tell on the picture that it has left marks on the powder.

I'm a sucker for lip balm and have been since I was little. I didn't even know Chanel made lip balm in a jar until just recently, so of course I had to get it..
This is a big jar (0.35 oz/10 g) so, although it's very pricey, you still get a lot of product for the money. It has a lovely neutral smell and even tastes good!
If you're looking for a lipgloss-lip balm this is not it. This is not going to give you pouty shiny lips. This is more like the name says - a hydrating and nutritional lip balm. I only wish it had SPF. That's a little disappointing, but other than that, I love it!

Another favorite lip balm in a jar is the baby pink Dior lip balm (last seen here and here).

Nude, Hot Pink, 17th of May ramble

2011-05-21T19:58:00.012+02:00

Norway's independence day, May 17th, is a huge day of celebration here in Norway. For kids in daycare it's celebrated the day before. They sing, play games, eat hot dogs and ice cream.
I even got my son - the teenager, to come and watch his little sister sing. She was so cute!

For the 17th celebration I wore a super cute dress from H&M in nude.
I love love love nude color.
It's definitely the new staple color in my wardrobe.

If you have big boobs you are going to want to wear this dress with something to define the waist line. I looked like a pregnant whale wearing this alone.. and that's not a look I really want to go for..
I wore this with a fitted black blazer and black heels.

Sorry for the bad quality of the pictures. I didn't get to take a full figure picture of myself so this is what I managed to do :P

Another color I'm loving lately is hot pink! Hot pink lips and nails!

The OPI nailpolish looks actually red on, but it's a reddish-hot pink (Dutch Tulips).
The lipstick is just a hot pink lipliner from Rimmel all over the lips with a cheap H&M brand lipcloss. Just enough color to be able to wear it daytime ♥

As far as my workout goes, I've had some major backaches the past two weeks and my workouts came to a sudden halt because of it. I think I'm getting better so I have to get those running shoes on and continue my Tone It Up challenge :)

Protein Pancakes

2011-04-24T20:19:00.006+02:00

I have to share this recipe as this is my new favorite breakfast and lunch! It's so good and so healthy!

Protein Pancakes

1/4 cup egg whites (I always add whites from two eggs. That's about 1/4 cup)
1 scoop vanilla protein powder or regular (organic brown rice protein or whey).
2 tbs vanilla almond milk or skim milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbs flaxseed
After above ingredients are mixed together add 1/2 mashed banana
Add a handful of fresh or frozen blueberries

This makes 2 - 3 pancakes. Add some sliced strawberries or sugar free jam/jelly if you want them even sweeter.

The recipe is from Tone It Up and can be found here. Their pancakes looks a lot better ;)

You can double the recipe and bring a couple to work for lunch too :)

The combination of protein (powder and eggs) and carbs (banana and berries) is a perfect mix to start off your day. The carb count in these are so low that you can even eat this on a low carb diet and low GI :)

For my Norwegian readers, flax seeds is Fiberhusk (fås på Helsekost). Jeg pleier å ta i en skje med Kruskakli også for å få litt mer fiber i.

♥ Michelle

Look who's back!!

2011-04-24T19:30:00.009+02:00

After months of trying to find the motivation to continue my makeup blog, I've realized that it's not there.
My life took a sudden turn, as you know, and my focus is so much different now. Yes, of course it's still on the shallow things of life like beauty, hair, makeup, nails, clothes, and all things girlie! I mean, hello! I didn't get a different personality! But, it's more on staying healthy, working out, looking and being my best.
So, my blog will be more of a lifestyle blog.

I want to say a big thank you to all my old readers who are still hanging in there, cheering me on - on Twitter and Facebook. ♥ you!! And welcome to all my new readers! I hope I wont disappoint although I wont write purely about makeup.

For those who doesn't know, I'm in my 30s - which is the new 20ies as we all know. I'm a single mother of an almost 17 year old son and a two year old daughter. I work full time as a computer consultant and I commute. Fi (the littlest one), stays with her dad every third weekend so I don't have much me-time, but I love the time I have with her. My son is mostly in his den... where his computers are ~~nerd~~ so I only see him when it's feeding time.

So, here's the latest picture! I was headed out for my morning cardio, that's why I look the way I do ;)

I'm still in the process of finding a good workout routine with work and kids. My goal is to work out at least 5 times a week. I've been doing that for the last few weeks, but I still need to find a set schedule.

Planning is key to success!!

-And my plan is to get this body and this hair:

Just because I heard that little laugh you just did, I will be sure to post some after-pictures when I get there, to rub it in!

The two girls are Katrina and Karena from Tone It Up. I've been following their diet/fitnessplan for a few weeks and they are soo motivating! They post lots of workout videos on You Tube too that are amazing!

A bunch of girls/women doing the TUI plan are on Twitter, if you're tweeting. Search for #toneitupteam and follow all the girls and get some great tips for healthy meals and snacks too :)
While you're at it, add me too! "mupnorth" :)

My goal is to loose/tone up 22 Ibs! So I have a way to go, but it will be fun and I'm super excited to start seeing muscles definition again!

I have lots of ideas for blog posts to come, so stay tuned!

♥ Michelle

Getting Crafty

2010-09-21T18:34:00.005+02:00

I've been looking for a small white wire cupcake tree for a long time! For some reason it's no where to be found in Norway.. so where do I turn to when I want and need something? You guessed right: Ebay!

Ebay didn't have a white one either (!), but they did have the small trees that I wanted. So I purchased this:
- And with a can of white spray paint, I turned it into this:

Cute, isn't it? ♥

I'm not a very crafty person so I'm super proud of myself right now.. hahaha!

The cupcake tree will be used for Fi's and my birthday coming up ♥ so I'll post some pictures of the tree with actual cakes real soon :)

I'm hunting for some amazing cupcake recipes, so if any of you have some to share, I would love to get it! ♥

My inspirations:

Take care!

Shellac Nails -teaser

2010-09-18T22:40:00.005+02:00

My first Shellac nails! I love it!! I can't get over that I will have perfect French Manicured nails for two weeks!!

(The oily things on my cuticles is just that... cuticle oli ;) In case you wondered!)

Full blog post on Shellac is coming shortly!

Urban Decay Naked Palette - Mac dupes

2010-09-03T19:03:00.016+02:00

I initially decided not to get the Urban Decay Naked Palette as I was pretty sure I could dupe it with Mac ones... but you know how it goes.. I caved! I can't get enough of neutral colors!

Thank you gorgeous and sweet Valerie who got me this palette!! ♥ Be sure to check out her great blog too!

I'm not going to do a full review on this as there are hundreds out there already. - Same goes with swatches. (Visit Temptalia to read a full review and see amazing pictures of the eyeshadows.)
What I can do is sum it up by saying the Urban Decay eyeshadows are amazing! This palette is all you've heard -and then some! ;)
I haven't owned any UD e/s previous to this palette so I was so pleasantly surprised! They are equally as pigmentet - if not more, than Mac ones, and the colors are gorgeous!

The one problem with this palette is deciding what color to choose. You are going to want to apply them all! At once, preferably!

Lots of makeup gurus on You Tube and beauty bloggers are doing amazing looks and tutorials using the Naked Palette, so that's why I wanted to see if I could dupe the palette with Mac eyeshadows. If you don't want to spend the money to get this, but have a bunch of Mac ones around - here is how you can dupe the palette and join the fun! ♥

First, some Eye candy:

Here is what I came up with when trying to dupe the colors:
(Note: I don't own every Mac eyeshadow out there, so this is duping the palette based on the ones I own.. which is a lot!)

(Click on the pictures for super size!)

From left:
Virgin: Shroom. Virgin is an even more fine milled es. but this is a good dupe
Sin: Naked Lunch or Jest. Sin is actually slightly more beige, but it will give the same effect/color on the eyes
Naked: Kid
Sidecar: This one is really difficult to dupe. Mac doesn't have this color in their range, so the closest I came to dupe this with is Style Snob (a lighter version of Satin Taupe). Style Snob was a LE (Limited edition), but can be found on Ebay.
Buck: Cork
Half Baked: Woodwinked
Smog: Closest I found to this was Tempting. Smog is more brown while Tempting has got a bit more golden brown tones to it.
Darkhorse: Another eyeshadow Mac can't dupe. The closest I found was Magnetic Fields (also limited edition). Darkhorse is a lot more pigmented and a richer brown color than Magnetic Fileds, but you will get the same dark chocolate color with both.
Toasted: Sable
Hustle: Twinks or Smut

Creep: Black Tied or Carbon (except Carbon is a true matte).
Gunmetal: Knight Divine or any dark grey/silver. Mac have several LE that resembles this (Pandamonium, Waft)

Let me know if you have managed to dupe Sidecar and Dark Horse better than I have! They are amazing neutral browns and I would love for Mac to have that in their permanent collection!

♥ Michelle

Our New Home!

2010-08-25T21:50:00.010+02:00

Yes girls! I got the apartment!! ♥ I'm so so excited! I've been waiting on this for such a long time!

It basically came down to making a choice: living large somewhere more "country side-y", in a less nice neighborhood and where they don't have a coffee bar close by....
OR....
living ~~tiny~~ small in a fabulous neighborhood, central and with a coffee bar close by.

You probably guessed it, but I chose the latter :) From the time I went to see this apartment and actually bought it, it took three hours!! I didn't need to think about it. I knew this is where we were going to live!

No, it's not Barbie's dream house, nor my dream house.. But for now, for my little family in the place where we are today, this is perfect! All we need! It's super tiny and I love it!! Now I just have to come up with some amazing clever ideas to fit things in here! Hahaha - Like my makeup!!

Here are the official pictures of the apartment (in the sales add:):

The veranda/porch has sunlight from the morning until sunset during Summer, so I can't wait until next year to enjoy some lazy afternoons there with girl friends and a bottle of sparkly red wine :)

I'm decorating the entire apartment in my head already... currently I'm trying to decide on what type of sofa to buy.. I've always wanted a white one like Ikea's Ektorp. I used to have this in a different color, so I know it's super comfy and extremely cheap! You can also wash the cover and buy a new one, which is great having a toddler in the house.. Not to mention a teenage son, who is practically more messy than the littlest one...
I would really like a light grey sofa too... what to decide!

Anyway, I'm so happy to share this good news with you! Finally something good came in my direction, right? Much needed!

Take care! ♥

Haul and OOTD

2010-08-22T11:18:00.012+02:00

Hi girls! Hope you are all having a great weekend! ♥
For us it's been birthday party for my niece and today I'm trying to get organized for the upcoming week by cleaning the house and writing tons of to-do lists.
Later today I'm going to see a house for sale.. Really excited about that! Out of my price range, but I might bid on it to see if I can get it below asking price....

Recently I have purchased a few things. I have almost had to force myself to shop since I'm still not in the mood... But we all know how effective retail therapy is, and I am in the need for some therapy!!

At tax free I went by the Mac counter and purchased three things: Mac blush in Pinch Me - which is probably the prettiest blush I have ever owned! How has this one passed my radar? It's just the perfect neutral matte pink. I prefer not having any shimmer in my blush, so I can add shimmer where I want myself (usually not on my apples, but cheek bones).

I also got a new Mac Studio Fix powder in a darker shade: NW35. - Because I figured since I've never use my other one, I will probably start now...? Logic gone... (not using this one either, but it's great to keep in your purse to do some touch-up during the day.. I guess).

Mac Select Moisture Cover concealer. Never tried this before so I thought I would give it a go. It's very moisturizing like it says and little goes a very long way. Does it cover my under eye circles? No.. I love concealers though :)

I finally got my hands on Chanel nailpolish 505, Particulére. It's soooo pretty! It's a waiting list on this in Norway! Can you believe it? This was purchased from good 'ol Ebay :)

I'm always on the look-out for a new, favorite perfume and got the latest from Elisabeth Arden (at least I think it's the latest), called Pretty! Very summery, flowery, light and nice. If it will be a new favorite, is still undecided...

I have tried to renew my wardrobe a little too. Love the fact that Fall/Autumn clothes has arrived. That means this freaking BAD Summer is OVER and we I can MOVE ON and put it BEHIND us ME! Amen!

This super cute black blazer with slightly "poofy" shoulders, I got from H&M. I love how it's so versatile!!

Excuse my OOTD photos.. this is obviously not my strong side: taking pictures of myself when makeup is not in focus. Need to figure that out.. (think I've said that before...).

Leather skinny belts, like this one from Vero Moda, can make a huge difference to an otherwise boring outfit. Now that I'm a single mama I need to figure out clever ways how I can revamp my wardrobe without having to pay a fortune...

I am always drawn to things with a powdery color like this knitted loop scarf from H&M. It's so nice and yet another way to spice up a plain top or blouse.

Last, but not least - I got myself a new leather wallet! My last one I got from you-know-who, so I wanted to throw that one to you-know-where and get a new one.
LOVE THIS:

Look at me being all clever making a collage!! :) hahaha Supper happy with myself!

Well, girls! That was it! I will keep you updated on my quest to revamp my ward robe and the house hunt!

Have a great week!

Our week in Spain

2010-08-14T22:11:00.005+02:00

We're back after one amazing week in Spain! It was a much needed vacation and we spent all day at the beach just relaxing, eating ice cream and bathing. Aaahhh, bliss!!

Here are some pictures:
For those of you following me on Facebook, you've already seen these :)

I'll post some more pictures later :)

No-Think Makeup

2010-08-01T12:02:00.010+02:00

This is basically how I do my makeup every day now. I need and want to wear makeup, but I want to put very little effort to it and it must be wearable with any type of outfit.

Yes, I'm still suffering from PTSD and couldn't really care less about makeup, all though the Urban Decay Naked Palette led me to Ebay for a little peak...
Didn't get it!
Did any of you get it? Is it worth the money or is it dupable with Mac es?

Face:
Clinique Even Better applied with fingers for less coverage
Mac Blot Powder, medim dark on t-zone
Mac Hush cream color base on cheekbones
Nars Mounia blush on the apples

Eyes:
Guerlain eyeshadow base (almost empty! Getting a new one)
Mac Brule all over the lid
Mac Grand Entrance on the lid (discontinued). Looks like Naked Lunch
Mac Seedling in the crease (discontinued). A dupe would be Copperplate perhaps
Bobbi Brown black gel eyeliner to tightline
Estee Lauder lash primer
YSL Faux cils mascara

Lips:
My favorite blue Dior lipgloss that gives the greatest nude, glossiest lips and makes my teeth look super white

Another picture of my little angel ♥

BYGONES!

2010-07-23T21:20:00.009+02:00

Hey girls - and the few guys that pop in once in a while ;)

I have missed blogging so much just because of the connection I have with you guys through that. I will come back and post regularly again, I promise, but things have been crazy since my last post (which I deleted for specific reasons...).

I'm not going to waist any energy writing a word about the nobodies in my past life.. I'll just say BYGONES and tell you about now and the future :)

I'm doing really good actually. Things are coming together one by one.. It's taking it's sweet time, but I have faith that within a couple of months now I will have my own place and we can begin a new and FANTASTIC life ♥
Don't get me wrong, I'm not delusional. I know what's ahead of me, but I've been here before so I know I can deal, cope, manage, prevail and conquer!

- And I still believe in love and happily ever after. I'll get it... you'll see. I'll torture you once again with tons of wedding posts! Hahahaha

I'm excited to go back to work and lucky me, my company have an office in Oslo - the capitol city of Norway, so I am transferring to that office. That means I get LOTS of time in the city, which I love love love! I'm back to my home town and I get to see all my "old" girl friends and family.

On another note, in a couple of weeks I'm taking the kids to spend some lazy, sunny days here:

The place is Mallorca in Spain. I can't wait to not bring my laptop and leave the cell phone at the hotel room.. just be completely not available to the rest of the world and just enjoy life with my loved ones ♥
I'm bikini ready ;)

To switch the subject completely to makeup... It still doesn't do anything for me. Can you believe that? I passed by the MAC counter the other day and I haven't been to MAC in probably six months!?! I think I'm suffering from PTSD and this is one of the symptoms... seriously.

Subject switch again: hair: Since last post I colored my hair dark and back again to lighter...
Right now I'm super happy with my hair color though. I don't know what that little dark-hair-detour was all about..

I hope you all are having a great Summer!
Tomorrow, it's 5 months until Christmas my mother just informed me! :O Time flies, so lets make the most of it!

♥ Michelle

NOTD

2010-05-29T21:27:00.011+02:00

I just had to do a super short rave about this nail color, because it's soooo pretty! So pretty that I had to get a back-up!
It's the Revlon nail polish Gray Suede #705.
I first saw it in one of Lisa's friday haul videos on Youtube and she was describing this so fittingly: this nail polish does to your fingers what nude pumps does to your legs. It makes them look longer! - And I want that :)

Oh, and by the way, I colored my hair darker AND I did it myself! :O My hair was getting really blond because of the sun so I had to do something...

I bought hair color from a hair salon so I would be sure to get a great product. I used two packs of Cutrin in medium blond. I just wanted to "tint" my hair a little darker and not go back all dark, so in stead of applying this on dry hair for 20 minutes, I applied it on wet hair and left it in for 10. I love it :)

Haul: Mac cosmetics

2010-05-22T19:10:00.023+02:00

I'm currently in my home town and we have Mac there!! Of course I had to make a visit and purchase some new goodies ;)
My goal was to find some lipsticks, lip glosses and lip pencils to use for the wedding. In my head I know exactly how I want my lip color to be, but what lip products to use to get that... I don't know yet.
I want my lips to be nude - but not Creme de Nude - nude. Not porn star nude... I want some shimmer to the color and more to the cold/blue neutral undertones, than orange and brown.

So this is what I got:

Picture on the left is outside, no flash. Picture on the right is inside with flash.

When I got these lipsticks I was thinking of combining them with lipliners to get the perfect color I want. So these are more of a great base color.
But here are some ~~bad quality~~pictures of them on the lips - just as they are.

The pictures are taken inside, with flash, so they don't really do justice to the true lipstick colors. This is slightly over exposed.

I also got two lipglosses; Ample Pink, Oyster Girl, a lip pencil; Dervish and Mac Prep + Prime for lips.

I'm loving the Ample Pink because it's such a beautiful neutral pink to wear all on it's own. Oyster girl is perfect to use on lipsticks you want to lighten and brighten up!

The eyeshadows I got was two staples and one new.
This is my second Satin taupe and third Brulé. - Those are holy grails for me. The third one: Twinks is a color I've been thinking for almost two years that I already own!? How could I have missed this color?? It a gorgeous burgundy brown. I love it!

So that is it!! :)
Thanks for dropping by! :)
♥

New winner for the giweaway!!

2010-05-09T15:44:00.002+02:00

The winner of my giweaway never responded, unfortunally, so I had to draw a new winner.

I was super excited about the new winner because she's a faithful follower, always leave sweet comments and she's so beautiful and funny! I had to count several times to make sure it was actually her, and it is......

DeeFromCG

Yey!! So happy you won hunni! Go check out her great blog too: Champagne Blond

My 15 Holy Grail Mac eyeshadows

2010-05-01T18:36:00.008+02:00

It's so difficult to try to figure out what your top 15 Mac eyeshadows are, but asking the question a little bit differently, it becomes easier:

If your house burnt down to the ground and Mac offered you a gift card to purchase any 15 of their eyeshadows, which ones would you run out and get right away?

Of course, eyeshadows are the things I would think about it a situation like that... hahaha, but go with this ;)
Somehow that made me realize what colors I cannot do without on a regular basis. Being a neutral lover, these are not "fun" colorful choices, but ones I can make sooo many combinations with for daytime and nighttime looks. These are also colors that will suit any eye color.

(I hope this answers your question, Steph!)
I have included the descriptions Mac gives these colors too.

[Click for super size picture]

1. row:

Brule: "Soft creamy-beige. Satin".
I've been through several of these and I use it everyday no matter what look I'm doing. A thin wash of this all over the lid sets the eyeshadow base and creates an even color to start building other colors on.

Shroom: "Soft beige with shimmer. Satin".
This is basically Brule with shimmer. It's great as a brow highlight and for inner corners.

Naked Lunch: "Minimal pink with shimmer. Frost".
I love this on anyone! Either to use as a wash all on it's own, or on the lid with a darker brown or Coppering in the crease.
Rhondelle: Ops! Just discovered this was a limited edition! Sorry! I would then buy Electra: "Silver with icy shimmer. Frost". It's a little bit darker, but a color I've used a lot and that can be easily swapped with Rhondelle.

Sable: "Gold-plum with bronze pearl. Velvet".
I love that description of it! It's basically just that. I love to use this all on it's own on the lid if I'm in a hurry - and underneath the lash line. I also love pairing it with darker colors in the outer v/outer half. Such a gorgeous color!

2nd. row:
This row looks so similar in the pan, I know - but they are quite unique and different from each other. I'm sure those of you who have these will agree. I can't do without any of them!

Patina: "Taupe brown with golden pearl. Frost".
One of my all time favorite colors! This is my Olivia Palermo eyeshadow color. I use this on the lid and underneath the lash line with black eyeliner on the waterline. I'm convinced this is the colors she uses!

Cork: "Muted golden brown. Satin".
I don't know if I agree on the golden part, but it's a midtone brown matte color - in my own words. Why this is among my favorite is because I use this every day to fill in my brows. If you want a brown matte color to use in your crease or along the lash lines, I would choose Brun or Charcoal Brown in stead.

Tempting: "Sinfully rich coco. Lustre".
What!? I don't think Mac had any clue how to describe this color so they went for "sinfully rich" what ever that is.. In my words this is a goldy brown color with lots of shimmer. I love this color sooo much!! I'll do an EOTD using mainly this soon (I have one in mind).

Mulch: "Red-brown with bronze pearl. Velvet".
This is such a nice brown color that will look great with any other colors. I'll use this as a day-time smoky eye or pair it with Tempting, Patina or Naked Lunch to name a few.

Satin Taupe: "Taupe with silver shimmer. Frost".
One of my first Mac color and definitely a HG eyeshadow. I use it just like I use Mulch, except this is more cool brown color.

3rd row:

Shale: "Mauve-plum with subtle shimmer. Satin".
This is a purple-y brown grey color. It's difficult to describe and it's depends a lot on what you pair it with and if you wear a colored base underneath - like a NYX Jumbo pencil. It's a great color to use both on the lid and in the crease with other colors. - I didn't choose all browns!! ;)

Haux: "Soft muted rosy brown. Satin".
I think that's a great description. I love to use this as a transition color (on the Orbital bone) when I do smoky eyes or just use a darker brown in the crease. It makes such a huge difference and your makeup looks flawlessly blended! A favorite to use on brides!

Copperplate: "Muted mid-tone grey. Matte 2".
I never know where to place this color in my palettes: with the greys, browns or purples. It has all of those colors in it. It looks super plain in the palette and I didn't discover the beauty with this color until I saw Kandee use is in several of her videos and I love this! Great in the crease with Naked Lunch or to pair it with other greys or carbon.

Knight Divine: "Black with silver pearl. Velux pearl".
Lovely dark grey color. I wouldn't describe it as black though.. Amazing smoky eye is Knight Divine, Rhondelle/Electra and Haux in the crease.

Carbon:
I don't use this as often as I use the others, but it's great when you want to darken an eyeshadow color or set your eyeliner pencil. I couldn't do without it!

What are your Holy Grail Mac eyeshadow colors you would buy?

And the Winner is.........

2010-04-30T00:17:00.005+02:00

The winner of the giweaway is the lovely lady behind comment number .................

Jenny!

Congratulations! I'll send you an e-mail and you can send me your address :)
Thank you everyone for entering and the super sweet comments! ♥ you!

Makeup Haul

2010-04-29T19:10:00.008+02:00

I've purchased a few makeup items from Ebay this month - and still waiting for a couple of more things to arrive, but so far this is what I got!

I had to try the foundation that's supposed to be the dupe to Nars Sheer Glow, so I got Neutrogena Healthy Skin foundation. I also got Benefit High Beam highlighter and Benefit Posietint. I've had the High Beam before in a tiny size, but it's gone and I wanted a new one. And last, two new Mac eyeshadows: Prepped for Glamour (Pret a papier collection, Summer 2010) and Bronze (mac regular).

I'm a sucker for neutral colors, especially taupe - so all though I knew Prepped for Glamour is a dupe for Satin Taupe I still wanted it. Love it, but not more than Satin Taupe which is slightly more silver-ish and have a better color pay-off.
Mac Broze is very similar to a lot of other Mac eyeshadows I already own. I thought it would be more brown resembling maybe Tempting, but this reminds me more of All That Glitters.
Are these must-haves? Nah..

Picture on the left: daylight with flash. On the right: inside with flash.
It took me a while to figure out what color to chose in this foundation, but after watching several reviews on You Tube and reading blog reviews I decided that # 100 Natural Tan would maybe be a good fit - and it's perfect!!
For reference:
Right now I'm a Mac nw/nw 35-40 (maybe closer to 40). My skin is very pink and the foundation is just very neutral in color.

So how does this compare to Nars Sheer Glow? Well, I have to say I agree that this is a great dupe! I actually think this is better because it's not as thick to apply and it feels like wearing nothing but my own skin, but still gives a good coverage that is buildable. The Nars is a little on the heavy side - in my opinion.
I don't think Nars Sheer Glow comes in any neutral colors that fits women with a cold undertone to the skin, but this certainly does :)
I would definitely recommend and repurchase!

Benefit High Beam highlight and Benefit Posietint.

Wearing Neutrogena foundation, Highbeam, Posietint and Mac Prepped for Glamour and Bronze eyeshadow.

Stay tuned for yet another blog entry in a few hours!! The giveaway!! Yey!

A little H&M haul

2010-04-29T10:03:00.005+02:00

The other day I had 30 minutes to find a couple of cute tops that I can wear to work and for casual wear, so I ran to H&M. I know I can always find something nice and cheap there without having to look too long and without having to try it on.
If we'd have Zara in this town, or J.Crew I would definitely be there instead, but this town is small and they don't have that... [insert bitter face here].

All though I'm trying to build my wardrobe with more quality pieces, I will always have some H&M clothes just because they do make some really cute tops and dresses especially, that will last you for years.

So here's 30 minutes worth of shopping:

I love the cute ruffles on the tops! This is so cute with work pants, high heels and a blazer/cardigan or just skinny jeans for casual wear.

I fell in love with the short sleeve cardigan purely because of the black trimming and little bows. Great way to make an otherwise boring cardigan super cute!

The grey skirt I already own in black (last seen here) and I love it!! It looks so good on, it's the perfect length and it will never be outdated because of the classic cut and color! Value for money! ;)

I was looking for a dress to wear for Norway's independence day which is May 17th and I found this one. At first I thought this was "meeh", but then I thought of Ahn from 9 to 5 chic. The Queen of Style and Accesorize.. She would totally make this dress rock (or any dress for that matter...)! I've been through her blog a million times just because it's so inspiring and I love what she can do to a simple dress like this. So I got it! I'm not quite sure what to wear with it though, but I'll look through her blog a few more times and find some ideas ;) haha

I love the color of this dress! I could probably do without the pockets (!) strategically placed at the hip area.. (did a man design this?), but with a black blazer it would be covered.

I'm trying not to shop too much clothes right now since I still have a few pounds to loose. But that can be my reward: to do some major shopping once I've reached my weight-loss goal, right?

EOTD - Bronze and Silver

2010-04-23T19:56:00.008+02:00

Beautiful Dutchess Roz did a gorgeous eyelook the other day and it totally inspired me to try this out myself. The look combines bronze and silver eyeshadows which I think is so nice! Here is another eyelook that I did with a warm-cold combo (look at my hair color!!!).

I've been wearing this eyelook everyday for work this week and I love it! The silver in the corner of my eye really makes my eyes open up.
For the purpose of showing the colors off I did apply the eyeshadows a little stronger than I have been for work, making it more of a night look. With a softer hand and more blending this is such a gorgeous daylook too!

(in daylight with flash. Click on the right picture and you can see the different colors really well)

Eyelook:

Gurelain eyeshadow base

Mac Brule all over the lid as a base color

Mac Rondelle (silver) on the inner half of the lid and tear duct

Mac Mulch (bronze) on the outer half blended out carefully to meet the silver. I also applied this underneath the lower lashline

Mac Corc on top of the Orbital bone as a transition color.

Mac Embark on a pencil brush in the outer half of the crease.

Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner to tightline

Estee Lauder lashprimer

YSL Faux Cils mascara

(inside with flash)

(Note to self: either smile or keep your mouth closed! lol)

Giveaway! - ENDED!

2010-04-22T19:42:00.010+02:00

It's time for my first giveaway! :)

This is long overdue, but I finally got some time after work to go and get a few things I wanted to give away. I wasn't sure if I should just get one expensive thing, or several less expensive things, but this time I went with a few things :)

These are items I thought were super cute and one thing I really want to try myself (lash serum!).

(with and without flash)

♥ I fell in love with the thin pink/coral belt with the big flower on! How cute will that look on a Summer top, shirt or cardigan!

♥ The lipgloss from Maybelline is just the perfect shade of pink! This is a lipgloss you can just apply on the go without having to add anything else.

♥ There are three nailpolishes from Depend, a brand I love!! The colors are adorable and perfect for Summer and tanned hands and toes :)

♥ I love the earrings!! I buy a new pair of these earrings every Spring/Summer and wear it to everything!

Last, but not least I also wanted to give away the new Loreal Renewal Lash Serum because I know there are so many of you who want to try a lash serum, but you are maybe too scared to use products like Lilash due to side effects etc.
I Googled this product and came across several beauty blogs where the girls showed before and after pictures of themselves after using this.
This works without a doubt! You will get longer lashes and even a little thicker lashes. You won't get the crazy long lashes you get with Lilash, but they will get noticeably longer :)

You apply this in the morning before applying mascara, and at night after removing your makeup. After four weeks you are supposed to see a difference!
Remember to take the before-picture!!

The giveaway is open for everyone in this world! I'll ship it to you! All you have to do is be a follower of my blog and write a comment saying you want to enter. If you don't have a blog, please add your e-mail address so I can get a hold of you if you're the winner! Those of you with a blog will be notified through that (unless you prefer an e-mail).

Update (time is set to later since I'm not home until then ;)):
The giveaway will close in one week from now: Thursday April 29th 2010, at 23.30 my time ;) haha Sorry, I have no idea what time it is in the rest of the world then. I'll try to figure out! (23.30 = 11.30 pm)
The winner will be announced Thursday April 29th 2010 ~~at 23.40~~ as soon as I get home! I'm at a friend's place, but I will draw and post when I get home. Promise!

Thank you sooooo much for following this blog and for all your increadibly sweet comments and support! I definitely have the best followers! ♥

Tag: 42 Questions about Makeup & Skincare

2010-04-21T14:40:00.007+02:00

Charlotte, Veronika and Andi did this tag and I loved to read all of them, so here's my go at it!

42 Questions About Makeup!

1) How many times do you wash your face daily?
In the morning and before I go to bed. But I only use water in the morning.

2) What skin type do you have?
That depends of the time of the year. During Fall and Winter I have mainly dry skin, but Spring and Summer it's more normal/oily.

3) What is your current facial wash?
My Holy Grail is Clinique Mild Facial Soap. It's not a bar of soap, but a bottle with clear liquid gel soap. I can't live without it!

4) Do you exfoliate?
Yes, when I remember to do it.

5) What brand do you use?
Whatever I have in my drawer. They are mainly gifts and samples. I've never actually bought an exfoliating product myself though... I probably should.

6) What moiturizer do you use?
I still haven't founda a HG moisturizer, but I usally buy Elisabeth Arden creams.

7) Do you have freckles?
Yes! And so much more after having my second child!

8) Do you use eye cream?
Not regularly, but when I remember I use it.

9) Do you or did you have acne prone skin.
Never. I feel very lucky with that, but I think my skin has been too dry to get it!

10) Did you ever have to use Pro-Active?
I don't know what that is....?

11) What foundation do you use?
I'm in a foundation obsession phase right now so I'm using abour 5 different ones trying to find the perfect one. So far, my favorite is YSL Teint Resist, but I can't wait to try the Neutrogena Healthy Skin Liquid foundation that's supposed to be a Nars Sheer Glow dupe.

12) How about concealer?
Bobbi Brown corrector is an amazing concealer as well as a corrector. I also love Mac Studio Finish and Benefit Bo'ing.

13) Do you know your undertone color?
Yea... unfortunately it's RED! Wish I was all golden and nice ;) But no...

14) What do you think of fake eyelashes?
I love fake eyelashes when they look natural and glamorous. When they get too dramatic it looks a little transvestite-y for my taste.. :S

15) Did you know you were supposed to change your mascara every 3 months?
Yes :) But that's about how long my mascara last anyway.

16) What brand of mascara do you use?
Only YSL Faux Cils. My HG mascara that I've used for app. 6-7 years.

17) Sephora or Mac?
Both? We don't have Sephora so I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to get in here or to visit one, one day!

18)Do you have a Mac Pro card?
Yes.

19)What makeup tools do you use in makeup application?
Mac and Sigma brushes. Shue Uemura Lash Curler (when needed) and tweezer.

20)Do you use makeup base/primer for the eyes?
I use Guerlain eyeshadow base which has become my HG eye primer. I'm almost out so I will definitely be repurchasing!

21)For the face?
Sometimes, but more to make my face look smoother. I'm not a huge fan of silicon products.. Don't like the feel of it.

22)What is your favourite eyeshadow? Color or shade?
All Mac and it's Brulé, Naked Lunch, Grand Entrance, Satin Taupe, Sable, Patina, Tempting, Mulch, Shroom, Suspicion, Cork... to name a few.

23)Do you use pencil or liquid liner?
Pencil, liquid and gel depending on the purpose:)

24)How often do you poke your eyes with an eyeliner pencil?
I can't remember doing that..

25)What do you think of pigment eyeshadows?
I have some, but I must admit I don't wear them too much. I think it's just because it's so easy to make a mess if you're not careful...

26)Do you use mineral makeup?
I used to.. before I discovered You Tube makeup videos ;)

27)What is your favourite lipstick?
I don't have one! :( I need some good suggestions!

28) How about lipgloss?
The only lipgloss I have ever bought a second of is Dior Kiss in blue color (can't remember the name). Instant nude, glossy lips that makes your teeth look whiter too!

29)What is your favourite blush to use?
Thinking... Maybe Nars Mounia. I'm still in the search for a HG one. I might try BB in Peony.

30)Do you buy your makeup on Ebay?
Too much... next question please!

31)Do you like drugstore makeup?
Yes, some! :)

32)Do you go to CCO's?Cosmetic Company Outlet?
We don't have those in Norway :(

33)Did you ever consider taking makeup classes?
Yes, from the Pixiwoo sisters!! Since I teach makeup classes I would want to attend a class that would challenge me and teach me something new :)

34)Are you clumsy in putting on makeup?
Not when it comes to makeup. But I'm a little clumsy otherwise...

35)Name a makeup crime that you hate?
Wrong shade of foundation or powder.. Using foundation to make yourself look tanner.. If you're pale, go pale and add some blush in stead :)

36)Do you like colorful shades of makeup (lipstick or eyeshadow) or neutral ones?Neutral for sure :)

37)Which celebrity always has great makeup?
Charlize Theron and Kate Beckinsale.

38)If you could leave the house using just ONE makeup item, what would you use?
Concealer to hide those dark circles under my eyes...

39)Could you leave the house without any makeup on?
I could and I have, but I would rather not.

40)Do you think you look good even without any makeup on?
I don't think I look bad, but different. I prefer myself with makeup on, all though my fiance prefers me without ;) Awww.. ♥

41)In your opinion what is the BEST makeup line?
Mac, Chanel, Bobbi Brown and Benefit. But I'm not loving everything from each line.

42)What do you think of makeup?
I love makeup!! A little bit can make such a huge difference!

Hair update - A subtle change

2010-04-20T21:15:00.007+02:00

I went back to my hair stylist today and showed her a picture of Alessandra Ambrosio and said "I want this hair!".

An hour later, I came out with such a subtle change to my hair color that probably I am the only one who can tell..

Main thing: I got rid of the yellow tones to my hair and got a lot cooler color instead, which I think compliments my skin so much more! I'm very happy!!

Can you guess the before and after picture? ;)
The left one is the before...

Here's the picture I showed her:

EOTD - Naked Satin

2010-04-17T14:22:00.006+02:00

I'm always thinking so hard what to call these "EOTD" posts.. so since I'm not that creative I figured I would just combine parts of the eyeshadows name. Today it's Naked Lunch and Satin Taupe.

I wasn't going to post this EOTD because it's almost exactly the same as the Mulch and Jest look I did just a couple of weeks ago. But I thought I would after all just to show you how easy it is to use one eyeshadow technique and apply different colors, and in this case apply a more dramatic eyeliner.

Eyes:
♥ Gurerlain eyeshadow bace
♥ Mac Studio Finish Concealer in nw25
♥ Mac Bisque eyeshadow as a base (Brule is too light for me now)
♥ Mac Naked Lunch in tear duct and 3/4th of the lid leaving the outer third bare
♥ Mac Satin Taupe in the outer corner and blended in the crease
♥ Mac Suspicion in outer v to darken it up a little
♥ Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner on top lashline with a baby wing, and underneath the lower lashline. Strongest line in the outher corner and thinner as I go in with the pencil. I also applied the liner on half of the waterline.

Face:
♥ Mac Fix + before applying foundation
♥ Estee Lauder Double wear foundation in 4C1: OUtdoor Beige
♥ Mac Mineral Skin Finish powder in Medium Dark
♥ Jemma Kidd highlighting cream Dewy Glow in Ice Gold
♥ Mac Trace Gold to highlight
♥Mac Blushbaby blush

Lips:
♥ Mac Subculture lipliner all over the lips
♥ Mac Underage lipgloss on top.

Some of the makeup used:

Have a great weekend everyone! :)

Purchase: Necklace from Etsy

2010-04-14T17:09:00.006+02:00

Today I received this gorgeous Petite Mother of Pearl and Gold Leaf necklace from Etsy.

It's gorgeous. Do I love it? I don't know...I thought the gold leaf details would be much larger! You would maybe think the word "petite" would give me a hint? Nope..
I focused on the words "pearl" and "gold" and everything else was a blur..

I can't really decide whether I think they are too small or not...
I feel like they kind of disappeared on me. What do you think?

EOTD - Pigments

2010-04-12T20:00:00.009+02:00

I thought I would give my pigments some love as I tend to always reach for my palettes.
It might be faster and easier to use the eyeshadow pans, but I love the pigments for their amazing vibrant colors! Pigments used: All Races and Tan.
All Races pigment is a pretty matte dark brown with silver flecks. Tan is a shimmery brown-bronze color. You can create this look with any dark brown eyeshadow and brown/gold/bronze color :)

Face:
Estee Lauder Double Wear stay in place foundation
Nars highlighter in Albatross
Laura Mercier blush in Pink Rose Quad
Estee Lauder Ideal Light Brush on Illuminator

Eyes:
Guerlain eyeshadow base
Mac Constructivist paintpot on the lid
Mac All Races pigment on the lid and underneath the lashline
Mac Tan pigment in the crease and underneath the lash line
Mac Shroom in inner corner and tear duct
Mac Brule on brow bone
Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner in black on waterline and tight line
Estee Lauder eyelash primer
YSL mascara

Lips: Mac High Tea

SOTD - Shoes of the Day: Tory Burch

2010-04-12T16:37:00.014+02:00

I know I'm super late discovering the Tory Burch flats, but I finally got my hands on a pair!
They are so cute and comfortable! I really want a pair of gold ones too now!

After becoming a mom again and walking every where with a pram, I have discovered my love for flats! I used to wear heels all the time.. even when it was not very appropriate to do so.. like wearing stilettos for a walk in the woods... But I was young(er), dating a guy who wanted me to look like a music video babe from MTV at all times, and with a not so great self esteem, I tried to accommodate! I can actually laugh at that today - and the guy is long gone!

(I actually got a tan line on my feet today wearing another pair of flats! LOL oh no!.. you can see it in the picture)

Beautiful Katherine Heigl and Lauren Conrad rocking their TB flats!
I wish I could wear more heels though, so maybe I should get one of those roll-up shoes so I can have a back-up for when the heels become a pain? Or maybe I should just suck it up and realize no pain, no gain?

Do you mainly wear flats or heels?

Mac Eyeshadow Swatches: Green and Blue

2010-04-11T12:12:00.010+02:00

Green, blue, aqua and turquoise are probably the colors I have used the least of all my eyeshadows. I will always be a neutral girl, but in Summer especially I love using some of the brighter colors to either line my eyes, or mix in with a neutral eyelook.

I actually forgot to include two of my favorite eyeshadows in these photos and that's Club (green-brown) and Nehru (blue-black), but I did swatch them in the brown swatches (Club) and gray and black swatches (Nehru).

Nehru is one of Kim Kardashian's favorite eyeshadows to use for a smoky eye and the one being used in a lot of photoshots of her. ;)

(Flash in the left picture. No flash in the right)

I did a green look a while back using Aquavert, Humid and Plumage. You can see it here.

Favorites:
1st row (top): Steamy
2nd row: Moon Flower
3rd row: Plumage, Contrast, One Off, Humid
4th row: A warmer White, Aquavert, Sumptious Olive
Not present: Club and Nehru

Must-haves in my opinion:
1st row: Steamy
2nd row: -
3rd row: Contrast, Humid
4th row: Aquavert, Sumptious Olive
Club and Nehru (maybe Plumage?)

What's in my purse?

2010-04-10T19:51:00.007+02:00

Copying gorgeous Andi's post, I thought I'd do a blog version of "What's in my purse". These posts and videos are always fun!

I have two favorite purses that I always wear and this is one of them: Louis Vuitton Never Full. This is the medium size, and it's true... it never gets full! I can put so much in here and it's still room for more, so perfect for a bag-person like myself who needs to bring "everything".

♥ Tiny nylon bag that can turn into a big nylon bag!
♥ Digital key for the office building
♥ Antiseptic hand wipes
♥ Children's spoon
♥ Filippa's hair clip, that she refuses to wear...
♥ Pacifier
♥ A plastic container with grapes for my daughter (also called "bribe")
♥ Makeup bag
♥ Bag with essentials
♥ Stack of business cards
♥ Notebook (inside is the note I received today to pick up the TB flats at the post office!)
♥ Agenda/calendar
♥ Foldable hairbrush with mirror
♥ Mini flashlight (lol, I have actually used this on several occasions!)
♥ Extra sugar free fruit gum
♥ Mini foldable lint remover (I know... lol I hate black pants with lots of lint!)
♥ Wallet
♥ Post-it stack
♥ Pen
♥ Camera
♥ Another Extra sugar free gum
♥ Two packs of paper towelettes
♥ Hand cream
♥ USB pen with 8 GB
♥ Cellphone

This is what's inside my makeup bag:

♥ Mac cream color base in Pearl
♥ Mac Studio Finish concealer in nw35
♥ Dior lipbalm
♥ Sigma travel brushes
♥ Nail file
♥ Mac lip pencil
♥ Mac eyeliner in black
♥ Nasal spray
♥ Elisabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream
♥ 3 lipsticks
♥ 6 lipglosses
♥ Dr. Lipp lip balm
♥ Bright Smile pen
♥ Tiny spray bottle with Mac Fix +
♥ Clear Eyes eye drops
♥ I always keep my Mac bblotting powder compact in here too.. Left it in the bathroom this morning :S

This is what's inside my bag of essentials:

♥ Hello Kitty band-aids
♥ Anti-acids pills (for heart burn. I lived on these while going pregnant)
♥ Soap papers
♥ Tampon
♥ Antihistamine pills (my fiancé is deathly allergic)
♥ Pain pills
♥ Two packs of antiseptic hand wipes
♥ Hair bands
♥ Tooth picks
♥ My holy grail tooth paste in travel size (Opal Essence)
♥ Two mini antiseptic gel bottles
♥ Sowing essentials. Believe me, I have used this several times! Once I fell running up (yes, up) stairs and got a hole in my pants! - And bled on my knee!

Photo of The Day:

Picture taken today wearing my new Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation by recommendation from the gorgeous Dorota - Champagne Blond.
I'm on a big foundation quest trying to find the perfect one for the wedding and I must say, I think this might take the first place from YSL Teint Resist...
I've only worn it for two days so I need to wear it some more before doing a review. But I think it photographs beautifully! Love how my skin looks :)

I'll continue to do my Mac eyeshadow swatch posts! ;) Don't worry!

Mac Eyeshadow Swatches: Browns and Plums

2010-04-09T17:08:00.008+02:00

These swatches are of some of the darker brown Mac eyeshadows and plum colors + a green (Club) that just appears brown (depending on the base).
I have also swatched a couple of these in the Grey and Black Swatch since they are really dark and can come off as black too (Suspicion and Signed Sealed).

For swatches of some lighter brown colors, go to Light Neutrals Swatches.

(Click on picture for larger size)

(Flash in the left picture, no flash on the right.)

In a perfect world I would have been a whiz on Photoshop and edited these pictures to be perfect in size etc. But hey.. this is what I've got ;)

Favorites:|
1st row (top): Patina, Tempting, Mulch, Satin Taupe
2nd row: Magnetic Fields, Brun, Suspicion
3rd row: Sable, Glamour Check, Club
4th row: Twinks, Sketch

Must-haves in my opinion:
1st row: Patina (really unique!), Tempting/Mulch and Satin Taupe
2nd row: Brun
3rd row: Sable, Club (really unique and versatile!)
4th row: (maybe Twinks - it's a darker version of Sable)

Colors that are LE are most likely sold out, but very often you can get them on Ebay or a local CCO (cosmetic company outlet).
LE colors from these swatches:
1st row: Innuendo
2nd row: Magnetic Fields, Suspicion
3rd row: Glamour Check
4th row: Signed Sealed (great dupe is Shadow Lady),

Mac Eyeshadow Swatches: Light Neutrals

2010-04-08T18:04:00.012+02:00

I picked another 20 Mac colors to swatch that I thought (almost) belonged in the same eyeshadow category: light neutrals. They are sooo pretty!

I primed my hand with eyeshadow primer so the colors would come out more vibrant. I just wanted to make one note though, I have literally piled on the colors on my hand! Some of these colors, like Soft Brown will look nothing like this on your eye, because you would obviously blend it into a nice soft shade. - So just keep that in mind if you think some colors look really intense!
Blending is key and you can make even black appear to be a soft color! ;)

(Click on the pictures to see it larger)

(Flash in the left picture, no flash in the right)

Favorites:
1st (top) row: Retrospeck, Warming Trend, Soba, Cork (great for brown eyebrows)
2nd row: Era, Kid, Malt
3rd row: Phloof!, Naked Lunch, Jest
4th row: Blanc Type, Grand Entrance (holy grail!), Omega (great for blond eyebrows)

Must-haves in my opinion:
1st row: Cork
2nd row: Kid or Malt, Soft Brown
3rd row: Phloof!, Naked Lunch, All that Glitters
4th row: Blanc Type, Omega

Stay away from, in my opinion:
1st row: Retrospeck
3rd row: Gleam
4th row: Forgery, Filament.
What they all have in common is that they are a luster finish and very gritty!!! Some luster eyeshadows are great (like Tempting), but these ones aren't!. No color payoff and major fall-out.

Colors that are LE are most likely sold out, but very often you can get them on Ebay or a local CCO (cosmetic company outlet).
LE colors from these swatches:
Warming trend and Grand Entrance.

This is my hand in sunlight! Notice how every shimmery color just seem to be the same!

Mac Eyeshadow Swatches: Grey and Black

2010-04-07T23:04:00.004+02:00

Being the Mac eyeshadow addict that I am, my favorite blog posts on eyeshadows are swatches and OETD/FOTD! I basically buy Mac eyeshadows just based on swatches and looks I see on other people's blog, because the closest Mac store is too far away (it would be a day trip to get there and no one would go with me, because I'm the only makeup crazy person in this town...) for me to test these colors myself. So I either order from Mac by phone, or buy though Ebay. Mostly the latter.

I thought I would return the favor and swatch the ones I own in case this might be helpful to someone.

I have several LE (LE = Limited Editions) that came out with a collection and is not part of Mac's permanent eyeshadows. But a lot of them keep coming back with other collections and 9 out of 10 times, you can find LE eyeshadows on Ebay. You might have to pay a bit/lot extra, but for me some of these have definitely been worth it!

I put eyshadow primer all over my hand before applying these swatches so the colors would be more vibrant and show up true to color.

(Flash on the left and no flash on the right)

Some of these aren't really grey nor black, but colors that appear that way on the eye, so that's why I included those in here.

I have over 100 Mac eyeshadows now and I realize that I have a lot of eyeshadows that are just redundant! Colors that have different names, but looks just like each other. At this point I don't buy every Mac color that comes along, but try to get the unique ones that are not to be found in the permanent collection. I'm currently waiting for Gazette Grey from the Pret a Papier collection. :)

Favorites:
1st. row: Seedling, Smoke & Diamonds, Copperplate and Bark
2nd row: Silver Ring, Rondelle, Electra, Scene
3rd row: Print, Nehru, Knight Divine
4th row: Suspicion, Smut, Signed Sealed

Must-haves in my opinion:
1st. row: Smoke & Diamonds, Copperplate, Bark
2nd row: Silver Ring, Rondelle, Scene
3rd row: Print, Knight Divine (Knight Divine or Silver Ring)
4th row: Carbon

I'll post swatches of my other eyeshadows too:
Higlights
Neutrals/Browns
Pink/Coral/Red/Plum/Purple
Green/Teal/Blue

My little girl loving mamma's makeup!

Hope this was helpful! :)

My new watch!

2010-04-07T16:40:00.006+02:00

Finally it arrived! My Michael Kors Runway gold watch. Had it not been for the Easter holidays it would have arrived sooner, but it was worth the wait!

A few of you have requested some pictures of the watch actually on me, so I've tried to take some pictures of me wearing it... hahaha, feeling completely stupid, because how do you pose with a watch without it looking completely obvious and weird?

This is why I don't do OOTD... What I wear is pretty plain, but for the sake of this post - I did dare to show you my outfit of the day ;)

This Month I am...

2010-04-07T13:04:00.002+02:00

Making a new habit...
of working out three times a week.
This used to be a habit, and I used to work out more than that, but that was before I met my fiancé and had a baby ;) You know how it goes...
Everyone have time to work out, it's just a matter of prioritizing and I'm putting it back on the agenda! But I have to make it a habit, or this wont stick!
According to psychology it takes 21 days to create a new habit, so if I consistently work out three times a week for the next three weeks - working out will be like brushing my teeth! Or let's hope so..

Shredding!
Yes, I'm starting the 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels that we know and love from The Biggest Loser.
I just need to get a hold of some hand weights, and then I will start! Someone else want to do this with me? :)

Eating Low GI
This week I started my low GI diet. Well, actually it's more a life style because you don't feel like you're on a diet at all.
It's a type of low carb diet, except not that strict. The main thing is to eat foods that has a low levels of GI = Glycemic Index. This is what has an impact on your blood sugar. When ever you eat foods with high GI, like a chocolate, things with lots of sugar or processed foods - your blood sugar will sky rocket! You will get an instant feel of energy and satisfaction, but your blood sugar level will drop really hard, really fast and you will crave something again.. and so the cycle continues.
Eating low (or medium) level GI foods will keep your blood sugar stable so you wont go hungry during the day and you wont have that craving for ~~carbs, pasta, chocolate, M&M's, milkshake, cookies, ice cream~~ "something"..

Example of low GI foods:
Whole Wheat pasta/protein induced pasta, wild rice, fish, lean meat, eggs, nuts, dark 70 % chocolate, youplait 0% yogurt, bacon, dry apricots, berries, some fruits.

Changing my hair color...
I've already ranted about that so enough said ;)

Trying out different...
Makeup looks for the wedding. I have already decided to do a smoky eye, but I'm not sure how smoky and dark I want it yet, and with what colors. I'm thinking either a dark brown or a gray with some pink/purple like Mila Kunis

Packing my boots away!
There cannot possibly be more snow now!! I am so ready to wear cute flats and Spring clothes!
Some of you already have really warm weather and talk about wearing Summer dresses.. It wont get to be that warm in Norway until June... maybe late May if we're lucky.
I am wearing these this month:
Definitely deciding on...
My wedding dress. Back and forth, back and forth... Who knew it would be so hard to make a decision about this dress? I am 90% sure of my dress, but I still have to just take one more look around to see if I'm missing an undiscovered treasure out there.

Do you have any plans for this month?

Hair Quest Continued...

2010-04-05T20:54:00.012+02:00

Like me, you probably thought my hair quest had come to an end.. well, it hasn't.
I've had this hair color for almost two months now and I just can't get settled in it, if you know what I mean.. (don't you?) Something just doesn't feel right about it.
I don't think it's the best color for my skin tone - which is basically pink..
I feel weird having dark eyebrows and hair in a totally different tones of color too, so I've booked a new appointment to the hair dresser and bringing a few pictures...

My dream hair has gone from Jennifer Aniston hair to Allesandra Ambrosio's hair:

Her hair is basically medium brown with sun-kissed highlights. I'm hoping my hair dresser can achieve that if I get more highlights (to the roots! They need a touch-up!) and then go over with a hair-color that is slightly darker than what I have now so the golden goes away..

Here's a comparison:

Hello, pink skin!!

Our hair colors aren't that far apart, but mine is more golden - also called yellow/orange :P

Since I started this hair quest, I've had so many hair-nightmares...
Last night I dreamt my hairdresser "misunderstood" and made my hair black again.. I was devastated and woke up. It took me probably five minutes until I realized it was all a dream - and I was SO happy!

Hopefully I have my dream hair in time for the wedding! ♥

EOTD - Tempting Cranberry

2010-04-04T20:22:00.019+02:00

Can you tell I have vacation? Hahaha, frequent blog updates! But I love to do it! Tomorrow is my last day of Easter vacation so after that it's back to work and being a busy bee! I will still try to update my blog at least once a week though!
Next week I think both my Michael Kors watch will arrive, AND the Tory Burch flats!! So I will definitely blog about that! Woot woot!

I am trying to come up with some nice neutral ways to use Cranberry and I have to admit I am loving this color more and more!! This look is basically using two colors: Cranberry and Tempting.

This makeup look will take you 5 minutes to do! So easy, anyone can do it - but the right brushes is a MUST! This is half the job, so invest in some nice, soft makeup brushes. I can recommend both Mac and Sigma.

The look:
What is not included in the picture:
Chanel Vita Lumiere foundation # 40
Chanel Loose Powder Universal Libre, in color Doré
Mac studio finish concealer, nw25 for under the eyes
Mac studio finish concealer, nw35 for around the nose area
Guerlain eyeshadow base
Estee Lauder eyelash primer
YSL Faux Cils mascara
Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner
Gosh liquid eyeliner applied with a thing eyeliner pencil
Bobbi Brown Bahama Brown blush
Mac High Tea lipstick

1. Brule all over the eyes as a base
2. Tempting all over the lid with a brush like Mac 239, leaving the tear duct bare. I also applied this underneath the lash line
3. Cranberry in the crease with a fluffy brush, like Mac 219. Apply Craberry also underneath the lash line, on top of Tempting
4. Blend, blend, blend, blend
5. Grand Entrance in the tear duct and slightly underneath the inner corner of the eyes
6. Brule on the brow bone and at the sides of the eye to clean up the look
7. I applied Gosh liquid eyeliner with a thin eyeliner brush to create a crisp, barely-there line on top lashes. On the water line I used Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner (for it's great staying power and blackest of black color).
8. The rest you know.. eyelash curler, primer, mascara ;)

I just had to take a picture of the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick too, because it's so nice! I used it as a highlighter on my cheekbones.

Hahahaha! I'm so funny! I don't even know what it means, but I've seen so many girls to this hand-thing and I was in that mood tonight.. ;)

I've been taking so many pictures of myself lately because of these EOTD-looks, and I am getting so uncertain about this hair color....
Is it me, or is my hair yellow/orange?? I don't want that!! :(
I have a new appointment at the hair dressers in a couple of weeks, but I don't even know what I want her to do!?

Any suggestions?

EOTD - Mulch and Jest

2010-04-03T13:30:00.017+02:00

Today I was Google'ing Mac Shell Pearl Beauty Powder, because I want it sooo bad after seeing it on gorgeous Andi, and it wont be out in Norway until May sometime. - And of course I can't wait that long!! (Here Ebay comes into the picture!) I came across a picture featuring the powder with an earlier Mac collection called Graphics Garden (from Summer 2009 I think). It also included the eyeshadows Mulch and Gleam and I thought those are the colors I will use today!

I love finding pictures that will inspire me to try out new color combinations!
This is obviously a very easy and neutral look, but those are the ones I use and love the most.

I couldn't find my Gleam (until I was done with my makeup), so I used Mac Jest instead. They are pretty much all the same colors: Gleam, Jest and Naked Lunch. Mulch is a gorgeous brown color with gold to it.

Here's the finished look (with flash):

No flash:

Two first pictures are with flash and the last one is not: (click for larger picture)

The products I've used:

The look:
What is not included in the picture is:
Mac Studio Finish Concealer in nw 25 for under the eyes
Mac Studio Finish Concealer in nw 35 for covering blemishes
Guerlain eyeshadow primer
Mac lipstick in.... thinking.. Hug me (I'm not completely sure. It's depot'ed)
Estee Lauder eyelash primer
YSL Faux Cils Mascara

1. YSL Teit Resist Foundation. Still a favorite, in # 6. Last seen here.
2. Mac blush in Blushbaby on the apples of the cheeks.
3. Mac blush/highlighter in Hush on cheekbones. I'm pretty sure this is just like the Shell Pearl except this is more gold (Shell Peal is pink).
4. After applying eyeshadow primer, I put Jest on the eyelid leaving the outer third bare. Pile it on in the inner corner of your eye and pull it 1/3 underneath the lower lash line too.
5. With a fluffy brush, apply Mac Kid on the orbital bone. This is the transitional color.
6. With a clean brush, like a Mac 239 (that you haven't used Jest with, otherwise the shimmer from Jest will transfer to Mulch and make it lighter. We don't want that.) apply Mulch on the outer third of the eye. Blend it carefully with a more blending brush so you wont have any harsh lines.
Go over with Kid again and blend the crease.
7. Apply Brule on the brow bone as a highlighter and use it to clean up the area from the orbital bone and up, so the Kid isn't all over the place ;)
8. I use Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner in Black Ink on the outer half on upper lashline and on half the waterline. This way the look isn't too dramatic, but will frame the eyes and make them "open".
9. Benefit Benetint. Actually I applied this last because I decided to have more of a fresh "pop" of color to my cheeks. I love this!

On another note!
I'm having a giveaway really soon! Yey!! I'm currently collecting some nice stuff for the prize :) More on that later!

EOTD - Copper Snob

2010-03-31T12:54:00.009+02:00

Today I tried out a couple of Mac eyeshadows I rarely reach for and I don't know why, because I love both of them! It's Copperplate and Style Snob.

Copperplate is a permanent color, a matt2 and a beautiful brown/grey.

Style Snob came out with the Love That Look collection a while back. I have read that people compare Style Snob to Satin Taupe... I'm mot sure if I totally agree, but it's also a taupish beautiful and wearable color.

The eye look:
1. Guerlain eyeshadow base
2. Style Snob on a fluffy brush on the orbital bone (not in the crease)
3. Copperplate all over the lid and into the crease
4. Apply Style Snob on top of Copperplate and pull in underneath the lash line as well
5. Shroom in the inner corner and slightly underneath the inner corner of the eye
6. Apply Brule last to clean up the brow bone area free of any glitter parts from the Style Snob. (I don't like glitter all over the eye area).
7. Gosh liquid eyeliner on upper lash line
8. Dior waterproof eyeliner on the waterline
9. Estee Lauder eyelash primer
10. YSL Faux Cils mascara

EOTD - Cranberry

2010-03-28T18:57:00.010+02:00

I have tried to come up with some looks using Mac's Cranberry eyeshadow. You would think that's easy, but it's actually not. Cranberry is a really beautiful color, but one many people (ref. forums, blogs etc) it can make you look bruised if you use it on it's own, or blend it out too much.
That's why I used a paint pot as a base, to make Cranberry more vivid so it wouldn't get that washed-out bruised look.

Most pictures I've seen, Cranberry is paired with a gold toned eyeshadow and I can see why. The two compliment each other really well, but since I hate wearing gold eyeshadow I wanted to find something else. So here it is:

You probably saw that one coming... hahaha. Not very original, but I thought it was a beautiful and wearable look.

What I'm wearing:
(I forgot to include the Guerlain eyeshadow base in the picture below and the paint pot, but I found a picture of the paint pot and the eyeshadow base you can see here, and here.)

1. Clinique Super Moisture Makeup #11, Sand
2. Boiing concealer # 2 medium
3. Chanel Universal Libre Translucent powder # 40 Doré
- Gurelain eyeshadow base
- Mac Constructivist paint pot
4. Mac Cranberry e/s all over the lid and along the lower lash line
5. Mac Bark e/s (discontinued, but is on Ebay). You can use any matte dark brown in stead
6. Mac Jest e/s in tear duct
7. Rimmel white eyeliner on the water line
8. Gosh liquid eyeliner in black
9. Estee Lauder eyelash primer
10. YSL Faux Cils mascara in black
11. Mac Blushbaby
12. Mac Hush highlight on cheekbones
13. Annabelle lipgloss in Breathless Soufflet

OOTD - my first!

2010-03-26T20:30:00.013+01:00

I realize that taking pictures of yourself trying to get the entire body, is quite the challenge... I don't know how you guys do it, but I tried... and failed! Hahaha
I still thought I'd show you some of the outfit I wore today, the hair and makeup.

I'm totally into striped sweaters these days and got this beige striped top yesterday. I can definitely see me wearing this with shorts and cute sandals this summer :)

I wore a thin belt in the waist, black skinny pants and a black cardi with 3/4th arm length - and of course pearls!

The eyes:

Mac Brulé all over the lid
Mac Patina all over the lid, and slightly above the crease + underneath the eyes
Mac All Races pigment in the outer v, crease and underneath the lower lash line
Mac Shroom in the tear duct and under the highest point of the brow
Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner in black
Lashes: Estee Lauder eyelash primer, YSL Faux Cils mascara

The hair:
I teezed the top part of my hair and pulled half of it back and pinned it with a little hair clip. To get a prettier "poof" and one that will stay all day; twist the hair a little before putting the clip in! Small thing, but makes a difference!

Easter Egg!

2010-03-26T12:02:00.005+01:00

It's closing in on Easter and I know my son and fiancé is looking forward to the Easter Egg!
Every year I fill their easter eggs with their favorite candy and hide it somewhere in the house. When they wake up they have to find it with no help from me...
I have offered to just hand it to them, but no, they want to play!

It's a BIG egg, so they'll be munching candy for a week...
As much as I would l o v e to get an Easter egg too, I have decided to tell my fiancé not to get me one.... Project Wedding Dress Body has begun and this will set me back and that I cannot have! ~~Or can I?~~

So I have decided to give myself a virtual Easter Egg...

This is the Easter Egg of my dreams with my top 10 favorite candy and chocolates that I will dream of when those ~~stupid~~ guys are eating their ~~stupid~~ candy... (bitter much?)

1. This is a tiny egg-carton filled with four milk chocolate eggs. Inside the eggs is fluffy white, vanilla cream... *Que Angel choir*

2. Vanilla fudge!

3. Toblerone chocolate! This is heaven!!
4. Reeces Peanut Butter Cup. We don't have this in Norway, but I have tasted it a couple of times before and I l o v e it!

5. Pink pillows, as I call them... They are chewy and fruity. I've loved these since I was little!

5. M&M's.. You have to eat the red first, then the brown, blue, green, yellow and last orange. Very important to eat it in this order.. (did anyone say OCD?)

6. Marshmellow Peeps! We don't have these in Norway either, but I have tasted them and luuuve them!

7. See a pattern here? Banana foamy things (I don't know what they are called), just like the pink pillows, except these taste like bananas :)

8. After Eight. I love these! Dark chocolate thin mints. Once upon a time, they made these with white chocolate and that

9. These are also British candy (like After Eights), but I can't remember the English name for it..
Nom nom nom!!

10. Kinder chocolate! Milk chocolate with creamy white chocolate inside. This is a German chocolate :)

What are your favorite candy and sweets?

EOTD - Sable day look

2010-03-22T19:36:00.016+01:00

I did this eyelook a while back with the intention of posting it on the blog. When I saw the pictures on my computer I decided not to post it after all because I seem to do such similar ~~boring~~ eyelooks all the time that looks just the same... Well, I haven't been too creative since then and come up with a more fun look to show you, so until I do... here it is ;)

Eyes: (all Mac)
Brulé all over the lid
Sable on 2/3 of the lid, and underneath
Magnetic Fields in the outer corner
Shroom in the tear duct and slightly under
Dior black eyeliner pencil
Lancome, Effacernes long lasting concealer (spf 12)
Gosh liquid eyeliner pen
Estee Lauder eyelash primer
YSL Faux Cils mascara

Face:
Clinique Even Better foundation
Mac Mineralize skin finish in Medium dark
Bobbi Brown Light Bisque corrector
Nars Orgasm blush
Mac Hush cream color base as highlight
Mac High Tea lipstick

Weekend pictures

2010-03-21T19:37:00.004+01:00

UNII palette

2010-03-19T23:14:00.009+01:00

I am crazy about palettes, so when I read about
the UNII palette on beautiful Andi's blog, I ordered one straight away! Today I received it and I'm crazy about it and here is why:

It is magnetized so you can place your Mac eyeshadows, blush, bronzer, concealer - or basically anything in it.
It comes with a sheet of magnets with double sided tape, to place under the makeup you have depotted
It comes with a big mirror! Double Yey for that one!!
It's SO pretty!!!
It's small and convenient to travel with!
It looks and feels quality and not just cheap plastic
It comes in many many colors to chose from! Yey!
It's SO pretty!! (did I say that?)
It's smaller than the Mac palette, but can hold 14 Mac eyeshadows (Mac takes 15)

It costs more than the Mac palette, but you are paying for better quality and a really really pretty packaging, so in my opinion it is worth it.

As a makeup artist I don't know if I would switch out all my Mac palettes with these, simply because I would be super scared of breaking them (because they're so pretty!) and they are slightly smaller than the Mac one. But I definitely want several of them for my own personal makeup! (I have ordered more!)
If you get 3 different colors you can have one for your favorite nudes, smokey eyes and a bridal palette/daytime colors.

The UNII website is so nice too! They even have a gallery page where people have sent in pictures of what they have put in their Unii's. You have to see that! I'm so nosy and curious to see how others do things - so I love pictures like that!

1 palette costs $ 29 and 2 for $ 56.
The shipping was super fast even to Norway!

Here are some more pictures of my UNII:

The UNII palette compared to the MAC palette...

(The top pictures was taken from the UNII website)

My Big Friday Splurge!

2010-03-19T09:47:00.010+01:00

For over a year, I have been wanting, needing and dreaming of a big chunky gold watch! I had my eyes set on "the one", being an oversized Guess watch for the longest time, until I discovered a blog... The name is Cupcakes and Cashmere and the author behind this blog is gorgeous Emily.

She has the most amazing style and wardrobe! You cannot be anything but inspired ~~to get botox and loose 30 I~~bs when you read this! - And I adore how she combines her fashion posts and little sweet treats recipes! My kinda girl, for sure! ;)
Anyway, I quickly noticed her gold watch and found out it was a Michael Kors Oversized Runway Watch. I love love love how a watch like that makes it look like a piece of jewelery instead of a plain ol' watch. This is a great accessory that will raise the level of any outfit - in my opinion!

So, "The One" became this watch in stead and now it is mine! ♥
Unfortunately we don't have many (any?) stores in Norway that sells this Michael Kors watch, so I had to get it from Saks Fifth Ave. I'm trembling a little bit by the thought of how much the Norwegian taxes will be for this... but here's hoping they wont notice it and think it's a random "gift" from an uncle in the US ;) - Yeah, right!

I will post a picture of it when it arrives :)

Amazing ad pictures from Michael Kors featuring the Runway watch:

Up-do in 3 minutes!

2010-03-18T22:14:00.007+01:00

Here comes another hair tutorial! I thought I might as well share all I know about hair, and this is about it! Not much in other words, but this up-do is genius! Sooo fast, so easy and you can do it without even looking in the mirror (after a little practice).

All you need is some kind of elastic head band. I just grabbed the first one I saw and it was a black one (not super pretty, but it works for this tutorial). For New Year's I wore this up-do, but with a thin cream colored satin band intertwined with gold chain.. (it's in the picture). Now, that was pretty! :)

Here we go:

1. Tweeze the top part of your hair, just like in the previous hair tutorial seen here so you get a little poof!

2. Put the head band on, placing it properly so it wont all of a sudden bounce off... (that would be a sight!). You will look kind of like this...

3. Start taking one section of your hair at a time and twirl it and then tuck it down the elastic head band. Do this with all your hair...
I did this in less than two minutes!

4. And voila! The end result is this!

Sometimes I have half an hour to get ready for a dinner or party (and that's not a lot for me!!) and all though this is a messy up-do it still looks chic. Especially with long dangly big ear rings!! ♥

Poofy ponytail tutorial

2010-03-18T18:53:00.013+01:00

After posting this picture, I actually got several requests to do a tutorial on how I got the poofy ponytail, also know as a poofy-tail (not really, I just made that up. Haha). For a second I thought of doing a You Tube video on it, because it's easier for me to show and for you to see how I do it, but I don't want to go back making videos just yet.. Maybe at some point, but not right now ;)

So here is the tutorial in pictures and text! Hope you can understand what it is I am doing...

1. Take a section of the hair on the crown of the head and tease it. Tease as close to the head as you can to add volume

2. Carefully comb over the "bump" so the surface of the hair is more tidy. If you want a messy poofy-tail, then skip that.

3. Get a regular hair-tie and make sure it's a size that will make a really tight pony tail so it will hold the hair and poof up all day. If the tie is too loose, the hair will fall down after a while.

But, here is the trick: while wrapping around the hair tie, make sure of two things:
- Create the ponytail lower than where you want it (you will pull it up in position later) and..
- When you wrap the hair tie around the ponytail, leave it a couple of inches out from your head (you will pull it closer to the head later)
Does that makes sense?

What you will do next will give you even more "poof"...

4. Grab a little bit of hair from the ponytail, close to the hair tie, and pull it up while you are pulling the hair out to the sides so that the pony tail gets higher and closer to the head. See how that creates a nice poof? :)

5. End result!

I have no idea if that made any sense... haha, I hope so!

My Favorite Products Right Now

2010-03-16T21:33:00.009+01:00

I was going to call this my "March favorites" until I realized we're only half way into March... haha, so this will be my favorites for right now. - Products I have been using daily for some time.

I looooove these posts so I hope many of you will do the "monthly favorites"!

1. My neutral palette of the moment
(top row) Vanilla, Brulé, Vex, Grand Entrance, Nylon.
(middle rom) Naked Lunch, Tempting, Shale, Sable, Jest.
(bottom rom) Seedling, Mystery, Embark, Twinks, Smoked & Diamonds

So I wont get stuck in a makeup rut, I make a new palette once in a while with 15 Mac eyeshadows and "force" myself to use every color for at least a month (obviously not at the same time though) That way I get to appreciate some new colors and I get to experiment and create some new wearable eye looks.

2. Gosh Eyeliner Pen (liquid eyeliner) in black
This is probably my 7-10th I own. I always go back to this one.

3. Benefit Eye Bright
I alternate this with Bobbi Browns corrector in the same color. Holy Grail products for me and my under eye circles!

4. Nars blush in Mounia
I've noticed that ever since I got lighter hair I need stronger blush so I wont look all washed out. I love this blush because it gives you a perfect natural flush to your cheeks.

5. Mac blush/highlighter in Trace Gold
This gives such a perfect glow to my cheek bones!
It's the one I'm using in the picture. (it was 7 am so I forgot to put something on my lips before taking the picture.. Foundation lip!)

6. Dior Créme De Rose, lipbalm
I've recently posted a review on this. As you (maybe?) can see, I'm close to hitting pan already!

7. Lancome, Effacernes long lasting concealer (spf 12)
This is one of my favorite go-to concealers. I have it in every color and use it on clients too.
This is voted to be one of the best concealers ever (that's why I bought it!) and I must say I agree.

8. Rimmel professional eyebrow pencil, # 002 Hazel
I have been using this for years and years. Perfect texture and the one I always keep in my purse for a quick touch-up if needed. Love the fact that it has a brush on the cap too! As with the concealer, I have this in every color and use on my clients as well.

9. Dior Crayon Waterproof Eyeliner, #094 Trinidad Black
I am still in the search of a perfect black black eyeliner pencil that will stay ON all day. Does this do that? Well, yes - but not on the water line and that's where I use it. Any suggestions??
Oh, and this comes with a really great sharpener too!

10. Estee Lauder Lash Primer
I've talked about this before and I think I did a video on it (before I deleted all my videos on You Tube....) I use this religiously every single day and have been for a couple of years I think. No matter how much of a hurry I'm in, this goes on!!

11. YSL Faux Cils mascara, black
I've used this for about 7 years now so that should speak for it self! ;)

12. Lilash, eyelash stimulator
Another Holy Grail product I've talked about here, here, here and last, here.
My second bottle is almost empty and I'm definitely getting a third!

13. Jemma Kidd, Dewy Glow All Over Radiance Cream, # 01 Ice Gold
I just recently purchased this and wrote about it - and I'm still loving it!

14. Guerlain Eye Primer
I love love love this!!!! I've been using this every single day for months. It was last featured in my October Favorites of 2009. I will repurchase!

15. Mac Fix + spray
I put some Fix + spray in a tiny purse spray bottle (since the bottle it comes in is rather large). I love being able to spritz this on my face during the day when my makeup needs a pick-me-up. Especially with the dry office air, this is great!

The end!!!

Bobbi Brown corrector

2010-03-07T10:03:00.019+01:00

I first tried the Bobbi Brown corrector when I got my BBU palette, last seen here. - I have been using the corrector Light Bisque every single day since (November '09) and I love it so much that I just purchased the single pot of the same color.

Since this is a Holy Grail product of mine, I thought I would share with you the reasons why:

The Bobbi Brown correctors come in 12 shades - and Light Bisque is the second lightest color.
This is a perfect color if you are a MAC NC/NW 25-35

I have the Mother of Dark Circles under my eyes. I think it's a hereditary thing, because I've had it since I was little, and so has my son. I actually got teased in second grade by a ~~stupid~~ boy who made everyone believe I had put blue eyeshadow underneath my eyes because my under eye circles were so bad. Grrr..
Since forever I have been trying to battle the darkness trying out creams, potions, serums, makeup etc etc. This, is the only thing I have found to actually work!

This is what Bobbi Brown's website says about the corrector:

"For very dark circles and extra coverage, Bobbi's secret is her Correctors. Use daily or just when you need extra coverage. Designed to be layered under your yellow-based Creamy Concealer shade, Correctors come in a range of twelve Bisque and Peach shades. Use fingers or the Concealer Brush to apply up to the lashline and into the inner corner of the eye. Smooth and blend by gently patting with the pads of your fingers. Follow with a layer of your regular Creamy Concealer shade."

I actually tend to use it in the opposite way: concealer first, then corrector. That's because I want the light pink color to show more because of it's brightening effect. I feel that when I use the corrector first and then a concealer, the concealer covers that up. But that's just me though ;)

I don't set this nor concealer with powder either because I'd much rather prefer a "moist" look under my eyes, than a dry look that makes my lines show even more. Then again, that's just me ;)

The difference between a corrector and a concealer:
Basically just the color and it's use.
The Bobbi Brown corrector has the same creamy consistency and coverage as the concealer. Because of it's pink color in Light Bisque, it cancels out the dark color under
your eyes and brightens it up.

I would totally recommend anyone to use a light pink creamy color in the tear duct and slightly underneath the eyes. No matter if you have dark circles or not!

It really really does makes a huge difference!

If you don't have the Bobbi Brown corrector, another favorite of mine is to use Benefit Eyebright for the same purpose. Another amazing Holy Grail product.
It's a creamy light pink pen and also easy to apply, but not as creamy.

Tag: Three's of me!

2010-03-01T08:52:00.007+01:00

I stole this tag and tagged myself. Haha. I just thought this was a cute tag and there are so many other girls I would love to see do this :)

Three's of me:

Three names I go by:
1. Michélle
2. mamma
3. MupNorth

Three jobs I have had:
1. Acctress
2. Sales associate at the Limited
3. IT support at the University of Oslo

Three places I have lived:
1. Israel
2. USA (California)
3. Spain (Valencia)

Three favorite drinks:
1. Coffee
2. Water
3. Diet coke

Three TV shows I watch:
1. V
2. Glee
3. Dexter

Three places I have been:
1. Russia
2. Sudan
3. Germany

Three places I would like to visit:
1. New York
2. Australia
3. Japan
(4. ROME!!)

Three people who text me regularly:
1. My maid of honor
2. Girlfriends (in general)
3. Fiancé (not enough!!)

Three favorite old TV shows:
1. Beverly Hills 90210
2. Little House on the Prairie
3. Punky Brewster

Three favorite dishes:
1. Sushi
2. Anything pasta
3. Anything fish

Three makeup products I cannot live without:
1. Mac cream color base in Pearl
2. Bobbi Brown corrector in Light Bisque
3. Dior water proof black eyeliner

Three things I'm looking forward too:
1. Getting married
2. Spring!
3. Buying the Chanel purse!

I am tagging these gorgeous girls:

Dorota - DfromCG
Michelle - Lipstick Rules
Andi - Saltwater Dreams
Chloé - The Hollywood Heels
Muhshine - Bubblegarm

Dior Crème de Rose, Smoothing Plumping Lip Balm Spf 10

2010-02-27T08:31:00.007+01:00

Anther review coming your way because this product is too nice to keep to myself!

I'm a huge huge lip balm junkie! I have been since I was a little girl and I would much rather bring a favorite lip balm to a desert island than a lip gloss.

That being said, let me tell you about the Dior Crème de Rose. This just came out with the Dior Spring 2010 Boudoir Lacy Collection.

The packaging is what caught my eye and made me decide to purchase it without even having tried it (It's lip balm from Dior, so I decided to take the chance ;)). So cute!

The scent is a nice rose smell, bordering on slightly too much perhaps, but at least nothing like the Yes!Yes!Yes! from The Body Shop that I ~~hate with a passion~~ don't like because of the ~~sickening sweet~~ overbearing smell it has.

It gets a big plus for the size: it contains 7.2 g/0.025 oz and another plus for the color: baby pink that gives off enough color to nude your lips, but not so much that it will make your lips look like concealer-lips ~~like the Body Shop's~~.
It also has spf10 so this will become my favorite go-to lip balm for Summer and the beach for sure.

But you can have the cutest packaging and color ever, if the lip balm itself is crappy, I'll toss it aside and wont use it.
A lip balm should just be creamy enough to stay on the lips, but not make them sticky or slide off after a few minutes. The Dior Crème de Rose is just perfection! Very moisturizing, stays on for a long time and is the perfect texture.

I don't know where the "plumping" comes in though.. I don't see my lips getting any bigger and thankfully it doesn't give you that numbing, tingling feeling that most plumping lip products give. I can't wear that, it's too distracting. So I think Dior had a little typo there...

The price: $ 25
Will I repurchase: Yes! Yes! Yes! ~~I'm so funny~~

Review: YSL Teint Resist foundation

2010-02-24T16:15:00.009+01:00

This is my personal (and professional... which kind of goes hand in hand) opinion of this product.
I've been wearing it every day for over a week. My skin is normal/dry, but with a slightly oily t-zone.
For comparison, I'm a Mac nw30/35

I recently purchased the YSL Teint Resist, Long wear Transfer Resistant Foundation with spf 10 (in number 6).
It's the most resent foundation from YSL and they have to say this about it:


	"Yves Saint Laurent's NEW foundation, Teint Resist, guarantees unfailing wear and radiance for up to 14 hours. The luminous, transfer-resistant formula forms perfectly to the skin for a soft and seamless result. The complexion is preserved from feelings of discomfort or tightening, remaining supple and silky-smooth from the morning through to night. Pigments are specially coated for a color-true effect and the formula absorbs excess oil through the day, for a complexion which always looks and feels fresh. Teint Resist gives the guarantee of an even, smooth and comfortable complexion hour after hour, giving you the confidence to put your best face forward in every circumstance. Oil Free. SPF 10."

What appealed to me about this foundation was "luminous" and "long wear". I hate having my "face" melt away after five hours after applying foundation. I want more from a foundation! I want it to look pretty all day long!

So, my verdict of this foundation:
I'm loving it! This stays on my face, just like when I apply it in the morning, until I get home from work. So that's from 6.30 am to 4.30 pm - 10 hours. Never heard of a foundation that actually does that!

This foundation gives medium/full coverage and dries very quickly on your face so you have to work fast to get an even application. The finish is matte, but slightly luminous (especially seen in pictures) because of light reflecting particles. - It doesn't give a dewy nor glowy look for those who want that though...

I don't set it with powder, because it completely mattes out my face (probably because I have normal/dry skin). It can sometimes make my skin feel a little dry so I have been using the Mac fix + spray or adding some more moisturizer before applying the foundation.
That makes me think this is a perfect foundation for women with oily skin!

As far as being transfer-resistant.. I wouldn't rub my face against my white blouse to tell you that... but because it's so matte I'm sure this is a lot more transfer-resistant than a lot of other foundations.

As you know, I love my highlighter and I'm loving how the highlighter on my cheek bones become even more prominent on a more matte foundation. With a dewy foundation it can have a tendency to make your entire face look all highlighted...

Unless I discover another amazing long wear foundation, I think I have found The One I will wear for my wedding!
And as a makeup artist, I think I will try this foundation out on bridal clients too because I am positive this will stay on the entire day with most skin types.

Oh, and it smells nice and comes in a very luxurious looking packaging too for those who like that ;)

Hair update - finally there!

2010-02-21T19:58:00.004+01:00

After several rounds of highlights I do believe I'm where I want my hair to be! Yey for that!
It's taken 3 months, too much money and a big hair chop to get there.

My last visit to the salon was Friday and we decided to cut a lot of my hair for a few reasons. First of all, the ends were really bad and damaged.
You don't want to have a great hair color on crappy hair!
Second, the hair color on the bottom half my hair would not budge! No matter how much bleach and highlighting we did, it was a couple of tones darker than the rest of my hair and that just really bugged me.. So we did some chopping to get rid of it and to get my hair back to a healthy state!

I have hair that grows in warp speed, so by the time of the wedding (in August) it will be long and nice, like I want it, again :)

So a couple of before pictures to remind you of the journey ;)
The picture on the right is what it looks like now. Not too different from the middle picture, just a tad lighter and no dark ends!

I cannot wait for some sun to hit it and naturally lighten it :) I want some sun-kissed hair this Summer :)

My hair inspirations started with Eva Mendes, Jennifer Lopez and ended up with Jennifer Aniston. Haha!

So, there it is girls! :)

MAC's matte dark brown eyeshadows

2010-02-18T19:31:00.014+01:00

Remember I recently complained about how MAC doesn't have one single dark brown-blackish matte eyeshadow. Well, I was happy to find out I was wrong (but kind of right).
They do did have a color like that, but it was limited edition unfortunately.

The color is Suspicion, from the NocturnElle collection which was a 2006 holiday collection. I discovered Mac a year ago so that was before my obsession with their eyeshadows, but I managed to find it on my trusty beloved Ebay!

This is a velvet eyeshadow and it's got an amazing color pay-off! I've been using this every single day since I got it. I use it in the crease, outer v and to set my eyeliner on my bottom lashline. As you might have noticed it does have some glittery things to it, but not enough for it to show up when it's applied.
If you can get a hold of this (maybe at a CCO or Ebay?) - then go for it!

A matte dark brown eyeshadow should be a staple in everyone's collection - in my opinion.
If you're a little bit intimidated by Carbon (Mac's matte black eyeshadow), then you must have a brown!

5 reasons why to have a matte dark brown eyeshadow:

It's perfect to use in the crease,
outer v,
line the eyes with either on it's own or to set the eyeliner,
fill in eyebrows (that is if you have dark eyebrows),
and it's perfect to create amazing daytime- and nighttime smoky eyes with that are not so dramatic

While I'm on the topic of Mac's dark brown matte eyeshadows, I thought I would show you the ones they have.
I do believe these are the only ones Mac have in the permanent collection. Correct me if I'm wrong ;)

(it looks like all of these e/s have some glitter in them, but they don't. It's just transferred from other eyeshadows in my palette ;))

Brun is my favorite one and the one I use on most my clients when I do their makeup. It's a very neutral perfect color with great color pay-off.
(Fun fact: Did you know that "brun" is how we say and spell "brown" in Norwegian? - and Sweden and Denmark too ;))

Mystery is fairly new to my collection and I love this because it's a cool colored brown. But as you can see in the pictures and the swatches, it's almost identical to Brun. If you have to choose one - I would go for Brun!

Embark is one of the "You Tube made me do it" purchases... (you know what I'm talking about!). It's a red-ish brown color that I've used... once!? Great color pay-off, but I'm not crazy about the color...

And speaking of You Tube made me do it.. Meet Handwritten! Quite similar to Embark, except this is more plum colored brown. The color pay-off is not
as amazing as Embark, but that's why I like this one. When applied it's a more soft brown/purple color.
If I had to chose one: Handwritten!

Building my wardrobe

2010-02-17T12:35:00.008+01:00

Who thought I would ever mention anything outfit/wardrobe/clothes/fashion-related in my blog, huh? ;) Not me!
But I have come across some really great blogs lately that inspires me, not only when it comes to makeup, hair and beauty, but clothes! And I definitely need it! I've been in a wardrobe rut for a couple of years and I want to get out of it! I don't want to slip into the comfort-zone where I end up looking mom-ish and boring.

I want to be a yummy mommy and look my best in every possible way!

My style when it comes to clothes is very Scandinavian I think... Very simple, ~~boring~~ classic and few accessories. Close friends call me Miss Cardigan! Haha, I don't even know how many cardigans I own, but a lot! And I still need, want, must have more!!

Since getting my first job, which was 2 1/2 years ago (with a 1 year maternity leave in the middle of that), I haven't updated my wardrobe to fit the office life. That is what I want to change now! I think (and hear that I do) I always look put together and well-dressed, but I would like to look a bit more business'y and stylish.
We don't have a dress code at the office, but since I'm working with clients so much - and we do have a dress code for that, I need to get some new clothes that can fit into the category "business casual".

So girls, I need your help to tell me what it is that I need to start building a wardrobe!

I got so inspired from this beautiful woman's style and blog: Saltwater Dreams (one of the blogs I have recently found that I love!!) , that I went out and got the top in the picture. It's from H&M and really cute!
A striped top is a must-have for Spring!
Now, I just need to figure out what to wear with it....

Hate the blue skirt, by the way.. Not my style, but love it with the jacket!

While skimming through the racks at H&M I also noticed another top/cardigan I have to get (the pale pink in the picture):

I love, love this outfit! Love it with the white shirt underneath and skinny jeans! I would wear black skinny jeans/pants with this though.. Wearing jeans is a little bit no-no at work unless they are very dark.

This will be mine on Friday! ♥

Jemma Kidd highlighter

2010-02-09T18:14:00.010+01:00

Another haul post coming your way, and I still have a few more to do that I wanted to share with you. Sorry for not posting anything more interesting these days!
This time it's another highlighter! If you have watched Pixi2woo's latest videos on You Tube,
this is the highlighter she's using and talks so highly of.
Watch her Marisa Miller makeup tutorial here.

My holy grail highlighter is Mac Cream Color Base in Pearl, but it looks like miss Pearl will have to share the title with the Jemma Kidd Dewy Glow radiance Cream in # 01 Ice gold.
The color is very similar to the Mac Pearl, but the texture is completely different.

The cream color base is very creamy and can be a challenge to put on after foundation. Because it's so creamy/sticky you have to apply it with an extremely light hand otherwise you will rub off the foundation.
The Jemma Kidd on the other hand is also a cream highlighter, but it has a cream-to-powder finish. So while the Mac gives a more dewy look because it's more sticky, this will give a matte finish.

It glides on with absolutely no effort and that is the main reason why I love it so much. The other reason is the packaging and the mirror.
It's even got moisturizing jojoba in it and sun filter.

Jemma Kidd products can be bought at Target in the US and probably all over the place in the UK (since it's a UK brand). In Norway - not so much, but I got this from thepromakeupshop.co.uk for a good price.

This is definitely worth a try if you are still looking for a great highlighter!

Bobbi Brown haul + EOTD

2010-02-04T18:46:00.013+01:00

I have a small Bobbi Brown haul, from Ebay, I wanted to share with you. I just discovered that Bobbi Brown came out with a Nordstrom exclusive "Eyes and cheeks to go" palette and I had to get the brown eye quad! (I want the gray too, but couldn't find it on Ebay). I already own a BB lip quad so I thought this would be perfect for my "to go" palette.

As you might know, Bobbi Brown sells empty palettes in different sizes that you can fill in with eyeshadows, blush, lipstick, lipgloss, foundation and concealer. It's genious for making your own dream palette! And what I love about Bobbi Brown's palette version (as opposed to Mac) is that the palettes are so pretty, comes in different sizes, has a mirror and the size of the pans and products you get are so much bigger than Mac.

I only got two t hings and that was a new palette to hold three pans and the eye quad.

The lightest one: Bone shimmer, (1) is a great color for highlight and tear duct.
The light brown eyeshadow: Copper Sand shimmer, (2) reminds me of Mac's Tempting.
The champagne color: Champagne Quartz, (3) I already own in a big size and is one of my favorite BB e/s. It's a dupe for Mac's Grand Entrance (which is one of my holy grail Mac shadows). The darkest color; Espresso, (4) is a great matt dark brown color, perfect for the crease or a smoky eye.

Actually this is a color Mac doesn't have at all and that I've been looking for, for a long time. I have all of Mac's matt brown colors, but there are none brown-black eyeshadows like this, which is actually strange considering how many brown colors Mac has got!

This is what my new "to go" palette looks like now:

How great is that? Four eyeshadows, four lipglosses and a blush in a small palette!

The blush Bahama Brown looks really dull in the picture, but is amazing on! It's from a best selling palette that Bobbi Brown came out with a couple of Summers ago called "Sun Kissed" and makes your cheeks look just like that: sun kissed!

In case you are wondering this is what the lip quad looks like closer up:

With those eyeshadow colors you can easily make 4 different natural day looks and at least 3 dramatic night looks. Here is a quick and easy look using all of the colors:
[click the pictures for a closer and better view of the colors]

I used #1 from the crease and up (we are on the eyeshadow quad now, don't look at the lip quad!)
#2 all over the lid and underneath along the lash line
#3 tear duct
#4 outer v and 1/3 underneath

blend, blend, blend, blend...

Spring sandal splurge!

2010-01-29T21:07:00.006+01:00

Although it's still snowing in Norway, the Spring - and Summer fashion is all over the magazines and I am adding these Gucci sandals to my ~~wish~~ list of "must-haves".

These will look so amazing with tanned toes with french manicure! Awwww.... *day dreaming*

I used to only wear high heeled sandals for Summer, until I had a baby and started walking, walking, walking and walking with her in her pram. Seriously, I have no desire to ruin my back any time soon, so flip-flops are my favorite shoe-wear for Summer!

Last Summer I met my boss' wife and she had some flip-flops to die for! The strap had lots of pearls on them - and anyone who knows me know that I LOVE pearls!!! I started Google'ing for them right away, but could never find anything like it :(
I could have asked her where she got them, but I didn't think of it until later when I started obsessing about them...
I'm still trying to find sandals like that, so if anyone of you come across something like it, please let me know! :)

Celebrity makeup inspiration - Kate Beckinsale

2010-01-27T11:18:00.006+01:00

I thought I'd post some inspirational makeup pictures (makeup, hair, diet...basically) of Kate Beckinsale. I think she is beyond gorgeous ~~I hate her~~ . Her makeup is pretty much the same on the red carpet: either a smoky eye or the bronzed glowy look, but always very natural. Her lipstick is usually nude or a very true to lip color lipstick that is very natural, but still brightens up the face.

Enjoy!

Do you have any celebrity makeup inspirations? Who are they?