I took a little break from everything

My summer vacation is coming to an end and I am going back to work next week. This summer I took four weeks off from work and I have to admit I didn't do very much. It has been a wonderful summer vacation and this was what I needed, spending some time doing nothing in particular and just getting my energy levels up.

I also made a little trip over to London. I had a great time and the weather was wonderful. I did some sightseeing, visited some museums and also made a trip to a theme park called Thorpe Park.
I managed to do some shopping as well and made a visit to Boots and Superdrug, but I will make a separate post about my shopping.



There is one thing that I always do when I am in London and that is taking a look at the magazines. Unlike Sweden the magazines in England come with some really nice gifts. It is not uncommon that you get a full size makeup item with your magazine.

When I was in Heathrow waiting for my plane back to Sweden I spotted InStyle magazine and this magazine came with either a full size mascara or two eye pencils from The Body Shop.

I picked up a magazine with two eye pencils, 01 Eye Definer Shade: Black and 06 Eye Definer Shade: French Navy. The pencil that caught my eye was the French Navy one. I do not own a dark blue eye liner and this seemed to be a very nice dark blue with a grayish tint to it.

I wish the magazines here in Sweden did this. There is rarely an exciting gift with a magazine here, often it's just a perfume sample or a thin paperback book. I like samples but sometimes a full size makeup item from a known brand would be nice.

On my eyes: I cannot get enough

Guess what, I used the Naked Palette again. It seems like I cannot get enough of this palette. It is so easy to use and the shadows are very easy to work with.



I think that the eyeshadow Toasted, which I am wearing on my lid is starting to become a favorite of mine. This is a rosy bronze color and it looks so beautiful on the eye. I decided to darken it up in the crease with Creep, shimmery black.

I tried using the eyeshadow Buck to fill in my eyebrows but this didn't work at all. The color is so wrong for my eyebrows and it gave them a very strange tint. I am not doing that again.

For this makeup I used the following products:

Eyes:
Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion, the original color.
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils in Milk and Slate
Urban Decay Naked Palette and I used the following eyeshadows, Virgin, Sin, Half Baked, Dark Horse, Toasted and Creep.
Stila Liquid Eye Liner
Cover Girl LashBlast Volume Mascara

Face:
Clinique Superbalanced Makeup Foundation in 27 Alabaster (N)
Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch
Everyday Minerals Concealer in Sunlight
Lily Lolo Mineral Bronzer in Waikiki as a cheek bone highlight.
MAC Studio Careblend Pressed Powder in Lush- Light Bronze
NYX Mosaic Powder in Dare

Current skincare

I while back ago two Swedish bloggers, Julia at DaisyBeauty and Fröken Rosa wrote about products from Garden Of Wisdom. I became very curious and made an order.

What I like about this company is that the products isn't filled with a lot of chemical substances that you never heard about, but instead you only find a short ingredient list with only the active substances that you need.
I prefer a short ingredient list because it is easier to understand what the product will do for you but also if it doesn't work and you are allergic or you break out you can easily see which ingredients that you are reacting to and stay away from them.

I think that I have told you in the past that my skin is very dry so I'm always looking for products that will ease the dryness and I think that I have found a product or actually a combination of three products from the Garden Of Wisdom that work for me.



I mix the three different products together and these three products are a Hyaluronic Acid Serum (HA serum), Chardonnay Grape Seed Oil and Encapsulated Glacier Water Hydrating Gel and this becomes something like a hydration serum.

I think that it is the HA Serum that is the main product in this mix. Hyaluronic Acid is a molecule that can hold up to 1000 times its weight in water which makes it really good as a hydrator. I add the oil and the water in the mix to give the Hyaluronic Acid some moisture to bind to.

I use this mixture after I have cleansed and before my moisturizer. There are two different moisturizers that I alternate between, the Eucerin pH 5 Cream for Sensitive Skin (you can find my review here) and Estée Lauder's Hydrationist Maximum Moisture Cream ( review will be coming soon). I do believe that this has made huge difference in my skin and it definitely feels more moisturized and the dry flakes are history.

I sometimes use the oil on its own on areas that needs a little bit more hydration, mostly around my nose. This oils is quickly absorbed into the skin and it doesn't break me out.

The Encapsulated Glacier Water Hydrating Gel can also be used on its own. It gives a cooling sensation but for me it doesn't give enough hydration on its own. I sometimes use this in the morning before my makeup just to feel a little bit more refreshed.

There are definitely a lot of products that I want to try from Garden Of Wisdom and I am already planning my next order.

Source: Garden Of Wisdom



I paid for the products with my own money except for the Estée Lauder Hydrationist Maximum Moisture Cream which was given to me by my parents as a Christmas Gift.
This is my own opinion.

Summer nails

When I think of summer I think of warm weather and sun. I also think of bright colors and bronzed skin. When it comes to nail polish I think that this is the perfect time to be a little bit more daring and fun when it comes to colors.

Here are some of my picks for summertime.


Pastels are fun so I included two polishes from Isadora, 711 Miami Blue, a light pastel blue and 712 Ocean Drive a pastel mint. Both of these are inspired by the pastel colors that you can find in the Art Deco buildings in Miami.

When it comes to bright and fun colors I like to buy cheaper nail polish. The nail polish brand Depend is perfect when it comes to buy fun colors for less money. Their formula can be a hit or miss but the color selection is excellent.

The yellow polish no. 210 from Depend is my Chanel Mimosa substitute. Chanel Mimosa is a yellow color that Chanel released this spring and it became a nail polish that many wanted. I didn't want to spend that much on a yellow polish so I went for a shimmery yellow from Depend instead for the fraction of the cost.
I also picked up a bright orange no.124 and a neon pink no. 034. Neon pink is a great color for summer and bright orange seems to be a trend color this summer.

I also included two more classic colors that can be worn all year long but works great during the summer time. These two nail polish colors comes from O.P.I and one of them is a classic red called OPI Red and the other is Miami Beet, a mix between rasberry and beet color.

I hope that this post gave you some inspiration when it comes to choosing colors to wear on your nails this summers. Remember that there isn't really a right or wrong when it comes to makeup and I think that you should do what ever you want. It is more fun that way.



All of these products was paid for with my own money and it is my own opinion.

On my eyes: Some Smoke

I have a fondness for taupe eyeshadows. There is something about this color that draws me in and I simply can't resist buying this color over and over again.
I received my latest taupe when my mother started to subscribe to a magazine and received a gift with two Elizabeth Arden products. One of the items in the gift was the Color Intrigue Eyeshadow in Smoke 23.

This is what I am wearing on my eyes in this picture. The makeup looks a little bit darker in the picture that it does in real life.



For this makeup I used:

Eyes:
Makeup Store Eyeprimer, Tinted as a base.
Elizabeth Arden Color Intrigue Eyeshadow in Smoke 23.
Urban Decay Naked Palette, two shadows in Virgin and Sin.
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Zero.
Cover Girl Lash Blast Volume Mascara in Very Black.
Isadora Eye Brow Lift & Define.

Face:
Lily Lolo Mineral Cosmetics Foundation in In The Buff as a foundation.
Lily Lolo Mineral Cosmetics Finishing Powder in Flawless Silk.
MAC Studio Careblend Pressed Powder in Lush-Light Bronze, I love this powder/bronzer.
Everyday Minerals Concealer in Sunlight under my eyes
Make Up Store Cover All Mix pens.
Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat Radian Touch in no 2.

I have been looking at my pictures of my eye makeup on the blog and I think I need to make a visit to a makeup counter and ask them if they can teach me how to cover under eye shadows. Because I pile on products but still the shadows shows through. This annoys me when I try to take pictures because I feel that the shadows interfere with the eye makeup.


All of the product was paid for with my own money if not stated otherwise in the post. All of the opinions are my own.

Maybelline Full 'N Soft Mascara

This mascara has become one of my favorite mascaras. The only sad thing about this is that I can't buy it here in Sweden. This seems to be a mascara that only exists in The US and this makes me a little bit sad, because I want more.


The Full 'N Soft mascara did give some volume to my lashes without clumping them together. The brush is a "normal" type of mascara brush and I did find it hard to avoid mascara smudges on my lid. I didn't remove this little mess from the picture to show you how it looks after I applied it (click on the picture to see a larger image). I don't mind this since it is easy to correct but it can ruin a perfect eye makeup.


Overall grade: I like The Full 'N Soft Mascara by Maybelline a lot. I feel like it gives similar results as the Hypnôse Mascara from Lancôme but for a fraction of the price. It has become one of my favorite mascaras but it is hard to get hold of this mascara if you don't live in The Unites States.



I paid for this product with my own money and this is my own opinion.