It's been a while...

Dear friends,

I want to apologize for not being on here for so long... Unfortunately, some things happened & I needed some time to recover from it... Now I'm finally feeling better and I'm ready for the new start. I really hope this year is going to be better than the last one!
Now, all the doors are open & I have to decide which one to pick... It might seem easy but I still don't know what I want to do after graduating...
You probably don't know but I'm not only a MUA... I'm an interior designer and now I'm about to graduate in management studies... I have to decide what I really want to work..
I'll try not to be lazy and write more post full with advices you might find useful :)

Hugs!

Make up & sensitive skin

After applying the mascara your eyes feel itchy? Are they a bit red & you start tearing? You might be allergic to some ingredients that make up contains. 

There is some concern for a select few individual ingredients found in mascara since they have been found to cause cancer in mice, and others are know to be highly toxic to the human body or volatile. Despite these disconcerting facts, they exist in minute quantities in mascara, and their presence has not been positively linked to negatively affect health. 

First of all, proper use of mascara includes a disposal of tube and brush after 4 to 6 months (I always suggest to toss it away after 3 months - especially when you have sensitive eyes). Mascara should also be disposed of it found to smell different, strange, or especially pungent. You might find it unusual, but mascara DOES have the capability to grow bacteria. Do you know why? Well, the lashes are actually a protection for the eyes. All the bacteria & dirt fall on them. Once applying the mascara on your lashes all those undesirable organisms go directly into the tube of your mascara where they can multiply. That's the  MAIN REASON why you have to TOSS YOUR MASCARA OFTEN, no matter how much money you spent on it. If you don't use it properly you can have a slight risk of eye infection or conjunctivitis, especially if your eyes are sensitive already!

The allergic reaction can be stimulated by any of the components of mascara, but it's usually attributed to methylparaben, ALUMINUM POWDER, ceteareth-20, BUTYLPARABEN, or benzyl alcohol.

From my experience, people always try to avoid methylparaben & I honestly think they should be more worried about the aluminum. Methylparaben is the most used paraben for conserving products, and HONESTLY I don't trust products who use other types of preservatives because they are not tested enough to prove they are not adverse. 

So which mascara should you use? I would go for the Clinique one, which is the one I'm using too. A more 'natural' choice can be the Tarte mascara. Unfortunately, Tarte cosmetics cannot be found at the european market so my advice is to buy it on e-bay! 

What else you can do? Before applying the mascara, wipe off the brush with a napkin. This might help you. Try to avoid putting a lot of mascara or put the mascara only on the top of your lashes. If all this won't help you, than you should not use the mascara at all. Remind, health comes before the make up. 

If you have difficulties while taking the make up off your eyes what you should do is wash your face first with some warm water. Most of the make up can be taken off with just warm water & if there are some other dirts left you can add some ORGANIC face soap and gently knead your eyes. If this is not enough, clean the rest of the dirt with some ORGANIC products for the face ( Gentle Organic cleansing milk). 

I think this is pretty much everything. Hit me up if you have more questions. Also, let me know if my advices helped you some how. :) 

Make up for mature women...

This might sound silly to you & you might be thinking that the make up is the same for all ages but it's not. 

First of all, getting old is a beautiful thing even though wisdom has its consequences. The skin starts to change, it gets dry and the wrinkles come out too. But the wrinkles are not the only problem, there are also the under-eye darkness, the loss of elasticity and others. 

I would first recommend you to start changing your eating habits, drink more water and also take care of your face. The skin now needs hydration more than never before. A quality face cream + serum + eye cream is now a MUST HAVE. 

Since I work with cosmetics I would recommend you to use: 

1. The Hydra Sparkling Serum from Givenchy who will give a lot of hydration to your skin and prepare your skin for the cream. This is the serum that I use too so it can be shared between mother and daughter. You can use it for all skin types.

2. The Face Cream Radically No Surgetics, also from Givenchy which is a global anti aging treatment for your skin. (This one cannot be shared between mother and daughter :P) 

3. The eye cream Capture Totale from Dior is a new cream for eyes and it's really great! 

How often you need to apply the creams? I would recommend you to do it in the morning (after washing your face) and before going to sleep. 

If your eyelashes are very thin and started to fall a little bit too much, you can try Mister Lash Booster from Givenchy. You can put it before going to bed as a treatment (which is great) but also before applying the mascara so your lashes will have more volume & length. I use this product as a treatment and too and many times people asked me if I have false eyelashes & I proudly said ''No, they are mine'' :) This product is not even that expensive, it costs around 30 Euro! Try it out & tell me your experiences :) 

When it comes to make up, the first thing I want you to know is that no make up can take off all the wrinkles on your face. Only PHOTOSHOP can. The role of the make up is simple - all that your face needs is to look fresh. The most important thing with mature skin is the foundation. You need a foundation, concelar, highlighter and a loose powder & some quality tools to apply it. A good foundation will make your face look fresh during the whole day. Some make up artist apply the foundation with fingers or sponges but I prefer doing it with a foundation brush (Check my older posts about brushes). In the video below is shown how to apply the foundation. 

                                       

When it comes to eyeshadows make sure you blended them well and pick more neutral colors rather than flashy ones. I really like how in the video below the make up artist suggested to apply the eyeshadows. But also when it comes to brows - My favorite are the brow-shadows (I love the eye & brow prisme from Givenchy which can be used for brows but also as an eyeshadows as well). 

                                         

THINGS YOU NEED TO AVOID :

1. shiny eyeshadows, shiny blushes & shiny everything! Do you know why? All those beautiful sparkles go directly into your wrinkles and make them look even bigger than they really are. Instead of shiny eyeshadows pick the matte ones and they will really look better on your skin. In general I prefer much more the matte eyeshadows because with them you can always get a natural look! 

2. Strong make up - a lot of make up will make you look older than you are and this is something you definitely don't want. 

3. Lipsticks with flashy colors - I would suggest you to pick the Kanebo ones. Their colors are sooooo adapted for mature skin and make it look fresh and younger! Try their blushes & Foundations too!!! 

Also, don't rush while applying the make up. This is not a 5 minute process, it really takes some time. I always give at least 20 minutes to myself to apply the make up. In 5 minutes you cannot get a fresh look and the make up can look messy which is something you need to avoid. At the beginning you might take more time but after some practice in 15 minutes you will have your foundation, blush & mascara done! 

Ok this is pretty much it! If you have any questions let me know and I will write about them :) 

My Top ten L'Occitane products

I like L'Occitane but there are some things I want to share with you.

First of all, L'Occitane's products are not organic (except the olive organic line) but based on essential oils. If you ask me about their make up line.... Well I would not buy it (except the lip glosses) because it's not good.. Especially the blushes (my favorite make up tool). 

Still there are some great products I really do love from L'Occitane. My Top 10 are: 

1. Olive Organic Body Lotion 

2. Olive Organic Lip Balm

3. Olive Organic Body Scrub

4. Gentle Verbena Soap  (this one uses my boo too)

5. Honey Soap

6. 5 Essential Oils Conditioner

7. Organic Olive Shampoo

8. The Almond Scrub that is out of market now I think

9. Organic Olive Tree Deodorant (Definitely one of the best ones I ever had)

10. Lavender Foaming Bath

Those are my favorite products. I really love their Soaps (I love Soaps in general) because they are so soft & smell so so good! The hair line is also great & my hair smells so good even 2 days after washing it with their products. And it's also soft! :) 

Which ones are your favorite products? Are some of my Top 10 on your list too? 

New blog design...

Since this blog is talking about girl's stuff I've decided to make it more girly... So what do you guys think? Is it good or bad? You might not like it but it's soooo like me....

Any suggestions for the next topic? I was thinking to write about the lipsticks..... :) :)

Finally back... Time for the eyeshadows... :)

Hey guys I've been lazy for blogging those days, weeks, months.... :P But I'm back now and I will try to write more posts...

Today I want to talk about eyeshadows! Which one are your favorite? Dior, Chanel, Shiseido, Clinique, Mac, YSL, Lancome... There are so many types at the market now... Some are so expensive and some of them are affordable.

Are the most expensive ones the best ones? I would say NO! I always say they are more into the design of the product... Chanel's eyeshadows look so pretty in that cool box & this makes them cost much more than they really worth. You are paying more because of a brand, not because of a better quality products.

Which eyeshadows should you get? Which ones can you really afford?

I'll give you few options:

1. UNDER $10
Cheap but good eyeshadows I would recommend are the ones form NYXCosmetics. I would suggest you to get the trio eyeshadow set instead of the mono eyeshadow... Also there are ElfCosmetics where you can get the whole eyeshadow palette for $5. From those 2 i really prefer NYX!
2. UNDER $20
I would suggest you to pick some of these. Ok, you will pay a little bit more but you can really get some quality products that you will really like. Check the mineralize duo eyeshadows from MAC . Mac is one of my favorite brands and their eyeshadows are really gorgeous! They have also a great choice of mono eyeshadows which I highly recommend.
If you are looking for some vivacious colors check the eyeshadows form BenNye. They are highly pigmented and ver very nice!
3. From $30 - $50
With this budget you can really get great products. It might seem a bit too much for make up but when it comes to eyeshadows you need to know that they really last long (except if they are creamy). You can be sure that you'll use it for 2 years at least. Check LePrisme Mono from Givenchy.. It's a great eyeshadow because the same color you have in 4 different shades. Also a good choice is the Street Art eyeshadow from MAC, or their palettes with 4 eyeshadows. Check the YSL palettes with 4 eyeshadows. I really love those ones and I can proudly say that I own one too. Some people told me that they don't like their make up but I don't share the same opinion. So far they never disappointed me. Also, check the 5x eyeshadows palette from Dior. I love them! The colors are really beautiful!

Ok, that's what I think about my favorite eyeshadows. Those are the brands I like, and with one I work. Honestly, I got disappointed in Chanel and I think they should just work on the clothing & fragrance line. When it comes to make up.... most of the products are really really bad (for the price I'm paying). The lipsticks are good but the blushes & eyeshadows definitely not!
Shiseido is a great brand but I prefer it for blushes, primers, foundations & lipsticks (which are really great). The eyeshadows didn't impress me so much.

.....Honestly for me a brand with all great products doesn't exist.. And all in all, with all those good brands around who can be loyal just to one of them? :)

How to apply foundation to your face?

 Applying the foundation to your face is the most important part of the make up. 


You can apply the foundation with different tools: 

1. with your hands
2. with a sponge or 
3. with a foundation brush (which is definitely my favorite way of applying).

The products you need are: 

1. the foundation primer
2. sheer foundation that matches your skin tone
3. a canceler  
4. a highlighter 
5. and a loose or compact powder.

Here is the picture of the tools & products you need....

The applying steps : 

1. Apply a foundation primer before you apply any foundation or tinted moisturizer. The foundation primer will smooth out the skin surface,make applying foundation easier, and make your makeup last longer.
2. Apply a sheer foundation that matches your skin tone. Tip: If a liquid foundation has SPF in it, it's NOT good for taking flash photography. Use the ones without SPF instead if you don't want to look too flashed out on your face.
3. Apply canceler to any red or discolored spots. In the corners of your eyes, where it's red, around the nostrils, and under the eyes (to make you look more awake) are good places for this. Do this after applying foundation, so you don't use too much. First apply the concealer, then pat very lightly with your finger to blend. Only apply concealer to the area that you want to conceal. Afterward, use the wedge to blend the concealer in with the foundation. Stand back away from your mirror to see if you have effectively concealed the areas. Try to stand about the distance away from the mirror that you stand away from people when you talk to them. 
4. Apply a loose powder all over the face using a powder brush. Pat it into the powder; then, with a paper towel, tap the brush so the excess falls off the brush. Lightly brush across the whole face. Use a powder puff (small) to apply powder on the upper lid.

Here is a nice video that might help you... Honestly I prefer applying the foundation with the brush but you can also do it with the sponge as well..

 

That's it!