So Queen

It is Queen's Day (birthday) today when it is customary to dress in orange and to go all out and party around town. Most of the streets in the center of town are closed to traffic to allow all of us to party and stumble around any way we want. I think the picture above pretty sums up the mood of the day. All the canals get packed with boats packed full of partying people; all with their own stereo systems blasting away. All this happens every year without fail rain or shine.
But I wonder if the Swine flu outbreak will affect the festivities today?


Credit: Grayburn (Terms of Use), livo.wordpress.com

Prime Time For Eyes

Even with knowledge and experience, sometimes we go against our best judgment. As soon as I enter into a drugstore or massive stores such as Target or Walmart, my critical thinking waits outside of the store until I'm done shopping.

Every time I go to Target, I get overwhelmed. Here in Europe making a choice for things like cereal or a drugstore foundation is simple because selection is limited compared to North America. Our stores are alot smaller in size and our isles don't go on for ages.

As much as I enjoy my shopping experience at stores such as those, I do make bad judgment calls when I feel overwhelmed. Let me bring your attention to L'oreal's HIP cream shadow paints.

I'll start by saying that I am a devoted fan of MAC's paint pots. I love their creamy textures (though they take a little practice to get the hang of) and their ability to prolong eyeshadow wear. I do not even think of putting on eyeshadow without a base of some kind because I know that without it only leads to disappointment later. The L'oreal paints score an average of 70% for 'Buy Again' on MUA. Not bad I think for a drugstore brand thus worth a try. These paints even come with their own little travel-size round crease flat brushes of fair quality and are contained in their own chic plastic boxes. The L'oreal range offers a good selection of neutral colors also; ranging from a shimmery beige (picture right) to a charcoal grey (picture left). So far so good.

But the rest leaves little to be desired. First off, they come in metal tubes which I find myself too clumsy for. Getting the right amount out each time is a trying task. The liquid that comes out of the tube's spout is not nearly as creamy as MAC paint pots. I think because of its liquidy-cream texture, the 'cream' starts off with a workable texture at the beginning but then dries unevenly as one attempts to blend it into the skin some more. After having tried different application methods including dabbing, rubbing, gliding, striping, dotting, smudging with fingers and different sized brushes, I gave up. I don't think I can bother with it again as an eyeshadow primer. However, my last resort...I think these could make fair cream liners if used with the Sonia Kashuk bent eyeliner brush. I'll keep you posted!

L'oreal HIP cream shadow paint in Steely (above left)- a shimmery cool tone dark grey that borders on black.

L'oreal HIP cream shadow paint in Secretive (above right) - a shimmery cool tone beige that becomes slightly silver.


Website: L'oreal HIP cream shadow paints
Credit: Grayburn (Terms of Use)

How's A Girl To Choose?

My heart fluttered when I saw these yesterday. There were so many so how is a girl to choose? After trying on several of them, I decided to go with my staple look of nude lips. I chose a dazzleglass that I would use often....

So my choice was MAC dazzleglass in Goldyrocks.

Because:
Pigmented Lips + Pale Gold = Shimmery Soft Caramel Nude.
Perfecto!

Credit: Grayburn (Terms of Use)

Summer '09 Chanel Glossimers

I love how Chanel make the impossible look impossibly chic! They are launching new Glossimers (which are possibly the best lipgloss around) and I want whichever one(s) were used for achieving the lips above. My guess from their product description is that the above look was achieved by using a combination of Nebula (rosewood) and Mica (white). Can't wait to see them at the counters!

Glossimers ($27.00)

• Nebula Rosewood
• Meteore Deep coral
• Mica White
• Mirage Brown
• Venus Fuchsia
• Silex Coral
• Cosmos Bronze
• Jupiter Red

Credit: Grayburn (Terms of Use), temptalia.com

Aloha And Sun Protection

Aloha! I am loving Hawaii and even more now that jet lag seems like a distant memory. It is sunny here and when it rains, it only seems to last for 10 minutes. And oh boy is sunscreen a necessity but makeup no longer one.

I have 4 different bottles of sunscreen on hand and when used appropriately, they seem to be keeping me well protected. For example, my tiny liquidy bottle of La Roche Posay Spf 30 is managing to withstand 12-o'clock sunshine and sweat without that greesy feeling. Unfortunately, it somehow messes with my mineral foundation. The Sofina Lucent Spf 50+ is a liiiiight protector which doubles as an Excellent liquid or powder foundation primer. The thing about these two sunscreens is that you must remove them completely or they could lead to clogged pores. I discovered the Banana Boat sunscreens here in Hawaii and have fallen in love with their Ultra Defense line. This stuff applies very light and is absorbed by the skin in no time. And for sun protection touch-ups on the go, I love those mists from Neutrogena's Fresh Cooling line.

Credit: Grayburn (Terms of Use), picture of the beautiful Waikiki Beach from waikikibeachoutreach.com

Must-Haves?

Hello! Just wanted to let you guys know that I've arrived well, after taking gruesome flight transfers after another to Hawaii! It is gorgeous here. The weather is sunny and breezy plus the people here are friendly. I took an-hour-and-a-half bus ride to the Target store and found myself three hours inside eying and grabbing everything from Sonia Kashuk to a crafty bag that can act as a 'set bag' to hold makeup supplies during dashes out on set. Inside the store is also where I discovered what a spam musubi was and soon after found a cool Alexander McQueen jumpsuit!

I would love to hear what you think are the current or classic 'must-haves'...things that I simple must hoard and bring home to Europe?

Take care luves and I'll be checking in soon again!

xx Grayburn

Credit: Grayburn (Terms of Use)

Fun Makeup - Peter Phillips

"My favorite part of the job is making people even more beautiful than they already are." says Peter Phillips backstage at Chanel.

Credit: Grayburn (Terms of Use), youtube.com

The Sweetest

The sweetest item to sit in my purse lately is an Oilily lip balm. Granted it isn't the only lipcare product in my purse but it is the one that gets the ooohs and ahhhs whenever it makes an appearance out of the purse. It is all because of its waxed paper encasing printed with the designs from their "Flowers" collection.

The strawberry scented balm feels good on the lips too and doesn't get mucky or dry out around the edges of my lips after hours of wearing like some balms can get. The texture is smooth and since the balm is colorless, it makes a great base/primer for whatever lipstick to come!

...and incase you were wondering, this is not a fake. This tube came from one of the gift bags I got at the Oilily show when I attended the AIFW in January.


Website: oilily-world.com
Credit: Grayburn (Terms of Use)

drOOOOOl!

drOOOOOOl!

We have been using quite a few products from NARS cosmetics in makeup class. I'm loving them so far because they have great textures; especially the lippies which are striking in its pigment intensity. Looking forward to seeing the items from their Summer 2009 collection (they are available for sale online right now!) when they come out to the stores.

Will write reviews on them as soon as I have tried the products on a larger variety of skin tones and types!

Website: narscosmetics.com
Credit: Grayburn (Terms of Use)

More H&M Spring Makeup Inspiration - TRUE COLOURS Collection

H&M creates some pretty inspirational ad campaigns and for their Spring 2009 cosmetics range, they have gone all soft and pink!

I went to have a look at the Spring range as I really do like some of their products and it is always fun to look at. This time around there are 2 new single Wet/Dry Eyeshadow (domed shape) in "Tokyo Treasures" (a medium lavender/blue with silver shimmer), or "Paris Avec Moi" (light pink with silver shimmer). These 2 new shadows applies smooth with decent pigmentation. The range also came out with 2 new 3-pan eyeshadow palettes in "Lustrous Life" as seen above (a medium-dark orange, a slate gray, a dark gray) and "Risky Business" (a rich black, a purple, and a paradise blue). The lip glosses, though depending on color, tend towards sheer and are slightly tacky. As you can see, the luxe-looking gold eyelash curler almost has center stage in the campaign image but has a price tag of only 2,90 eur!

Website: H&M
Credit: Grayburn (Terms of Use), hm.com

Pretty In Spring

Spring is about happy soft colors. This is the time when major brands such as Estee Lauder, Chanel and Lancome have lots of powdery pinks and peaches for us to choose from. Shimmer or none, this is the time to play with pretty pastels.

The H&M blush compact in Pink is a budget-friendly version that doesn't make you feel like you are stingy. Texture-wise, it is right up there with some department brands I have compared to. It has aloe vera amongst its list of ingredients and the color hasn't failed me yet when it comes to its staying power. The fine shimmer creates a slight glowy effect sans chunky glittery pieces.
What makes even greater is that one can adjust the desired look by either picking up more of the pink in the center with a brush, or the sand or pale peach/pink on its sides.


Price: 4,90 euros
Website: shop.hm.com/nl/shoppingwindow?dept=KOSM_MAKE&shoptype=S
Credit: Grayburn (Terms of Use)