I have a new blog!!! :D

Hi girls!

I've finally launched my new blog! Please go and subscribe there, so I can shut this one down. Can't wait to see you all there :)

http://beautyinvestigation.blogspot.com/

Leez

Happy New Year!

Hi girls!

Just wanted to apologize for being so MIA lately. I'm quite busy reading for my upcoming exam, and also I'm creating a new blog for you!! :)

I feel like taking photos, editing, writing and copy-pasting links takes up a lot of time, when I'm also a student and a mom. So what I plan to do is to shoot some videos for you instead, so I can just tell you guys about things instead of writing about them :)

Stay tuned for more info.

Happy new year to all of you!

Favorites of 2011

Hi girlies!

So here's my favorite makeup items for 2011. Oddly enough 2011 was not a particularly impressive foundation year for me. I tried both MAC Studio Fix Fluid, Cover FX foundation, Clinique Anti Blemish Solution Foundation, Revlon Colorstay Foundation and Revlon Photo Ready Foundation, but none of them seemed to please me very much. I hope to get my new Lily Lolo Mineral Foundation in the mail soon, as my skin has been making weird "spasms" over the past few weeks (likely due to stress and some hormonal imbalances). The next foundation I'm lurking to buy will be Jemma Kidd Light as Air Foundation. But I still feel like I owe my wallet/purse to use up my current stash first :) If you have any recommendations on foundations with medium coverage, that work well with combination skin, please leave a comment :)

Anyway, with that being said - and being the neutrals-lover that I am - here are my favorite items for 2011 (I apologize for the strange lighting. In Denmark the months of winter are quite dark, and it's virtually impossible to get the photo coloring quite right - at least with  my grubby ol' camera - I'll work on that:)

(Back row)

MAC lipstick in "High Tea"

Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in "Nude Lustre"

L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascara

Clarins Mosaique Bronzer

MAC Mineralized Blush in "Warm Soul"

(looks brown, but really it's plum based with gold sparkle)

(Front row)

MAC eyeshadow in "Kid"

(light beige matte)

MAC eyeshadow in "Swiss Chocolate"

(reddish medium brown)

MAC eyeshadow in "Embark"

(dark plummy brown) 

Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner

(Brown)

 

I purposely haven't done in depth reviews of these products, but if you'd like to know more about them, let me know ;)

What are your favorites? :)

OPI Muppets collection: Rainbow Connection

Hi everyone!

So, today I just want to let you know about this newly launced nail polish by OPI called Rainbow Connection from their limited edition Christmas Muppets collection. I just love it!

It's so so pretty, and it's relatively similar to Deborah Lippmann's "Happy Birtday", but only 2/3rds of the price, which I like, as I'm currently studying (again).

I think it's really pretty and cute, and having been a Muppets-fan since forever (especially a fan of Animal), this was just at must-have for me. In this photo I have just applied two coats of it, but of course you can keep building density.

Go get it! It's pretty, it's crazy, it's limited edition AND it's The Muppets :)

What you eat - or don't eat - matters to your skin :)

Hey everyone!

I've been trying out a new "diet" lately that's supposed to help a non-behaving skin like mine. I want to share that with you, as I find that it does actually work! :D
So without boring the crap out of you guys by writing a whole essay about this, I'll just show you the slight changes I've made in my diet.

First of all, I want to stress that this is not an admonishing "You can't eat this" or "You can't drink that" kind of diet. This is just a clue as to what to eat less of, and what to increase the intake of.
This whole "philosophy" is based on a theory, that some foods and drinks trigger the hormones causing acne. The whole purpose of this is to avoid - or at least reduce - the intake of these foods and drinks in order to prevent these specific hormones from messing up your skin. However, one must as a woman be aware, that some (monthly) breakouts will not be overcome by proper dieting ;)


As I mentioned in the beginning, I will not be writing a tonne about the beneficial (or non-beneficial) properties of all of these foods. We all know, that it's important to eat well, to eat fibre, vitamins, antioxidants and so on...as I said, the purpose of this is to not aggrevate the hormones that cause breakouts.

Let's start with the beneficial foods, shall we? :)

• Green vegetables - rich in fibre, vitamins and antioxidants.

• Fish and eggs - rich in proteins, vitamins and healthy fatty acids.

• Dark chocolate - and by dark I mean at least 70% cocoa. Contains healthy fatty acids and other components that is said to reduce the risk of cancer, boost the immune system and overall energy level, AND make you feel happy :)

• Garlic - rich in antioxidants, prevents bacterial and fungal infections and boots the immune system.

• Ginger - is said to boost the immune system, prevent infections and improve lung capacity (as all of our other organs, the skin too needs oxygen from within).

• Cold pressed virgin oil - this type of oil is the real deal. No chemical processing to get out the last drops of oil. It's mechanically extracted from "the first squeeze", and provides you and your skin with all the goodness of the oil.

•  Whole grain - rich in fibres, vitamins and minerals, keeps your digestive system free from "skin-toxic" build-up.

and of course the infamous:

•  Water - by far the best remedy to rid your thirst.

But do not listen to all of the self-proclaimed "experts" who claim, that you have to drink at least 2 litres of water a day. That is not the case. A good idea is to drink approximately 1½ - 2 litres. If you drink more, you'll risk washing out the very important sodium and potassium from your blood stream. Don't do that. First of all, I'll be the first to say: drink when you're thirsty. But being an educated nurse, and since I'm recommending water in this "diet", I'll share this little "rule" with you: The average person needs 30-40 ml's of water for every kilo of body weight in 24 hours. I'll use myself as an example. In theory I would need:
35 ml water x 60 kilos of body weight = 2100 ml. Trust me I can't drink that much, and also you must include the fluid you get within your food. So girls, don't fall for their crap. Drink when you're thirsty, and you'll be fine ;)

And now to the foods to be reduced :)

• Artificial sweeteners

•  Soda's and beverages, alcohol and coffee

•  Chili peppers
  
  

•  Dairy products - makes sense to assume, that it contains the same amount of hormone as does our lactation milk. If you must have some sort of milk, you can substitute with eg. rice milk :)
  
  

• Eggplant - don't ask me why. 

•  Red meats - salt, fat and possibly hormones. All the stuff you don't need (however, this does not mean, that I don't enjoy a good steak myself every once in a while. It does taste sinfully good ;)

• Monosodium glutamate - also referred to as "the third spice" here in Denmark. An artificial flavour enhancer, very often used in Asian food.

• Salt - in fact we only need to eat one unsalted chicken breast to fulfill the body's need of salt.

•  Tomatoes
  
  

• Fruit - one or two pieces of fruit a day is good for you, but fruit contains a lot of sugar. Nothing that your acne-prone skin needs.

• Processed foods - even people with problem free skin should try to avoid too much processed food. We have no control of the content, and not all is even declared in many cases! The less, the better :)

And also, I would like to discourage you guys from the worst sinner of them all:

Enough said, right? - I used to smoke, so I know the difference it makes to quit wasting your money ;)

Feel free to try it out if you would like to - I'd love to hear about other people's experiences with this.

I did not mention it above, but I do also take one multi vitamin tablet every day, combined with ginger capsules on days when I don't want to put fresh ginger in my smoothie. And also I take Omega 3 capsules :)

Looks that make anyone and everyone look good :)

Hi everyone!

Just want to show you some looks that - in my opinion - suit anyone. By that I mean, that you can't possibly go wrong with it.

The first one is:

1. The brown smokey eye

A brown smokey eye looks good on anyone from light to medium dark skin tones (if you are a woman of colour, I would suggest dark chocolate browns and black eyeshadows).

Hilary Duff has quite small eyes, which is why this look suits her so well. If you  have small eyes you can make them look bigger and rounder by dragging the shadow down quite thick under your lower lashline. In conjunction with the smokey eyelid, it will create the illusion, that your eyes are rounder.

If you - like me - have quite round eyes, try putting only a tiny amount of shadow very, very close to the lower lashline, or simply just line the waterline using a kohl pencil and smudge it a little bit. This will make your eyes appear a little less round (makeup is all about creating illusions ;)

2. Eyebrows

I don't know what happened with the no-eyebrow-trend (I think it was part of the A/W makeup trends of 2010 if I remember correctly?). Anyway, in my opinion nobody can get away with that. I think it looks just plain ugly, and it does absolutely nothing for your face.

See what a difference it makes, when Adriana Lima has eyebrows! It pulls all of your beautiful features together and frames the eyes.

Do your eyebrows however you like - it's a matter of taste. Personally I like a medium sized brow, that is darkest from just before the arch to the end and fades out a bit towards the middle of the face.


3. Flattering mascara

Many of us tend to go for big, bold - often spidery - mascara. However, as with all other eye-makeup, we need to consider what we want the mascara to do for us. Big spider-lashes do not look good on round eyes, and sparse hardly-there lashes do not look good on small eyes.

If you have round eyes, a flattering look would  be to (optically) elongate your eyes and pull them upwards by applying the most mascara on the outter lashes and less on the middle and inner lashes. Try to avoid mascara on your bottom lashes, as this will make your eyes appear pulled down, or place a small amount only on the outter bottom lashes.

If you have small eyes, you can make them look bigger and more open by pulling your eyelashes upward all the way across, and also taking the mascara underneath on the bottom lashes like Hayden Panettier.

4. Carefully applied blusher

Some women have naturally glowy, flushed cheeks. Unfortunately many of us don't :) A subtle, rosy cheek flatters anyone, warms up the face and makes some of us look a little fresher and younger ;) Christina Hendricks is a perfect example of beautifully applied blusher.

Remember to pick a colour, that is not too harsh for you and BLEND IT OUT. Nobody likes "speed streeks" :) Place it on the LOWER HALF of the apples of the cheeks and take it back toward the hairline. Don't take it to the front of the cheek or too close to the eye - it will make you look silly and overdone, and not elegant :) Too much blusher never did a woman any favour:

On the other hand - no blusher doesn't look good either. Scarlett Johansson is usually one of the world's most beautiful women (with a really good makeup artist!). But on this picture, the heavy eye makeup and lack of blusher to warm it up make her look really tired and pasty. Not her best look :)

5. Defined lips

I have always loved a good nude lip, but it doesn't flatter everyone. What does flatter anyone is a my-lips-but-better lip colour like Leighton Meester:

Go for a peachy pink lipstick or gloss with a beige or slightly brown undertone. NYX Cosmetics has some good and affordable ones like "Thalia" and "Tea Rose".

Another colour that flatters anyone is classic red. Now, red isn't just "red". Red comes in a multitude of shades from muted, browny reds to bright 1950's reds. Which ever one you prefer, there is one for you :) Red lips never really go out of style, and they can be worn by women of all ages.

Winter Skincare Update/Review

Hey everyone!

So, about a month ago I told you about the Dermalogica Clean Start skincare line, that I had purchased, as my skin had gone completely crazy on me. It felt greasy but still strangely dry, and I broke out like nobody's business. So I decided to give the much raved about Dermalogica line a go.

First of all, I want to say that I really like these products. The packaging is nice and sanitary, and the products smell nice. However, they certainly do what they claim - which is basically a good ting (!), but in combination they are slightly too drying for my skin.
So what I did is what I always do - I never use products from the same skincare line in combination with each other. It just does not work for me at all. So as usual I made my own rutine, that works for me.
I decided to save the Dermalogica cleanser for the summer, when my skin gets a little greasier, as it - to me - is quite drying on the skin.

- and instead I do this:


Morning

I'm always in a hurry in the morning, so I don't want to have to fiddle around too much. So what I do is I put a very small amount of Avene Extremely Gentle Cleanser (1) on to dry skin, scrub it around and take it off using a moist cotton ball - leaving the residue as it says to on the bottle.

Next, I spray Dermalogica Clean Start All Over Clear Toner (2) on my face. It's purpose is to keep the oilies at bay, and I do think it helps. It does not completely eliminate the shine throughout the day, but it does help my makeup not to slide off of my face as easily.

Then, I use Origins Ginzing Eye Cream (3). This is an eye cream for daytime only - and it does say so on the little jar. It contains caffeine and light reflecting particles, that help to de-puff and brighten the eye area. I haven't noticed a dramatic difference on my eye area from using this, but the lightness and the moisturizing properties of the cream, makes my under eye concealer go on very smoothly.

Last but not least I'm currently trying out the also much raved about Origins VitaZing SPF 15 moisturizer. This is a day time moisturizer also, and so far I really like it. It contains mangosteen (I don't know what that's supposed to do, but I think it's some kind of tree?). Anyway, the reasons I like it is because the formula is very hydrating, yet very light and quickly absorbed. It also gives your skin almost a glow, when you apply it.

This does not take me more than 5 minutes to do in the morning, so it's absolutely perfect for me.
The reason why I use these specific products, is because I don't want to use anything on my face in the morning, that can irritate my sensitive skin and cause redness - which can be a pain to cover up with makeup.


Night

At night I still use the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser (1), as it's very moisturizing and does not break me out. But instead of using the cloths, I've purchased the Trésonic Facial Cleanser (2) from QVC. It's a complete knock-off of the Clarisonic, but it does the exact same thing - but only for a fraction of the price. Because my skin has always been hard to manage, I find that I have to exfoliate every single day. My epidermis (outermost layer of the skin) gets dry very easily from the cold weather here in Denmark, but my glands still produce plenty of oil (huh...)
So if I don't exfoliate every day, I will create the exact conditions for breakouts:
dead skin cells + too much oil + bacteria = clogged pore = breakout.

Next, I follow Dr. Neil Schulz' (DermTV.com on YT) recommendation and use  a chemical exfoliant after the manual one (Trésonic). For that I use Clinique Clarifying Lotion 2 for combination/dry skin (3). It's a really nice product that contains Salicylic Acid and Witch Hazel. It does not strip my face, and it tingles a little bit, when you apply it with a cotton ball, which it's supposed to.

Around the eyes I use Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado (4), which is really thick and creamy. I really like it, but another equally good alternative would be Clinique's All About Eyes Rich Eye Cream, which to some of you may be easier to get a hold of :)

I then apply Dermalogica Clean Start Bedtime For Breakouts gel (5) on to my face, and this is a really good product. It contains Salicylic Acid that keeps breakouts at bay. However, it will not make you completely and utterly blemish free, as some of us do get the monthly hormonal breakout, but it certainly does keep you from getting those annoying random breakouts. The gel itself is a tiny bit drying, so today in the mail I got my Philosophy When Hope Is Not Enough Replenishing Cream (6), which has been recommended to me.

It's a relatively thick night cream, that nourishes your skin while you're sleeping without clogging the pores. It smells absolutely amazing - very clean and slightly citrus'y, and I'm sure it will works wonders for me. I'll let you know ;)