HOLIDAY TREATS


With the hopes of you all having a wonderful Christmas holiday I wanted to share a few of my favourites and treats for the family gatherings, New Years Eve and other upcoming highlights in your schedule during these winter months.


I dont know about you but I for one am not tired of glitter for New Years Eve and very much doubt I will ever join those who year after year tries their best to stear away from the typical things like sparkling dresses, tops or accessories on this night. And growing up with a grandmother who was the absolute queen of glitter and sequins I now love anything that sparkles and therefore very much like adorn myself with something glimmering for NYE. As you know I am also a complete lipstick lover - inherited from the same woman I might add - and to  not over-do it a matte lipstick is always my first choice. The Retro Matte lipsticks from MAC have been a personal favourite since the release in October and will suit anyone who's up for celebrating this past year and the beginning of a new with a bright lip. Check them out if you haven't!

Prefer to keep the focus on your eyes? Give them that snow-y sparkle with some glitter, a frosty eyeshadow or perhaps a Pro Longwear Paint Pot. I'm liking the silver-white shade called Chrome Angel.

Having a New Years party? Place the jar of Johan Bülow's golden liquorice balls among your tasty treats [Haha I'm sorry - been trying to make this sentence sound less dirty for 15 minutes now, I give up.] and you'll be sure to have the guests talking. Or perhaps my favourite from the range, jar number 2 with salty pieces made out of pure Iranian liquorice if you prefer. Decorative and delicious. Yum!

Still the mascara I recommend most to my clients. Love it!

No, red lips might not be the most surprising thing this time of year but it sure is beautiful. "Stalker" is the brilliant name of my most used red OCC Lip Tar this December.

Yes, I agree, it does look misplaced among all the goodies but since this is a post on treats I just couldn't skip something that is so important this time of year. A treat for your skin, keeps the winter dryness away. If you tend to get dry knuckles or small wounds on your hands then try this if you have the opportunity. I'm buying it at the pharmacy here in Sweden but I know stores like Boots, Ulta and drugstore.com are selling it as well.

I'm not usually the one to go for a light pink lip but I've fallen in love with a pink gloss from IDUN called Irma. My favourite match is with the Sweet Angel lipliner from Kicks. Such a pretty combo!


This year I noticed a lot of people have been giving away donations to different people- or animal-helping organisations as a Christmas gift in the name of a friend or family member which I think is absolutely brilliant. If you didn't but still want to feel like you've done something - and on top of it is a make-up lover who wouldn't mind actually having more of a reason to spend your money on lip products - then one way to help is to purchase any lipstick or gloss from MAC's VIVA GLAM range. For those of you who don't know, MAC Cosmetics has got their very own AIDS fund which gets 100%  of the proceeds from their VIVA GLAM products in order to help women, men and children living with and affected by HIV/AIDS and the initiative has already raised over $250 million. 1 HIV test, 23 female condoms or 233 male condoms  and 37 delivered meals are a few of the things the cost of only 1 lipstick will cover so trust that your beauty buys will make a difference. In the photo above you can see my favourite nude - VIVA GLAM II.  Guilt-free lipstick shopping? Every time!


Lots of Love & Happy New Year wishes!

MAKE UP FOR EVER AQUA ROUGE

 
Need a lip colour that will stay on through meals, drinks and kisses this Christmas? Aqua Rouge Waterproof Lip Colour from Make Up Forever does the job. I used one of the gorgeous red shades on my most recent bride and she loved it.  It has colour that dries matte on the lips on one end  and a clear gloss on the other  in case you'd prefer a glossy pout. You choose!

KIT ESSENTIALS | REAL TECHNIQUES

 
You know how sometimes when you buy new procuts/brushes you afterwards ask yourself "How the hell did I manage without this?"... Well, that's the kind of feeling I got with some of the Real Techniques brushes I purchased in London a while back. And for those of you who never heard of the brand, it's by makeup artist Samantha Chapman, also known as one of the Pixiwoo sisters who shares makeup tips, tutorials and more on their widely popular YouTube channel.

I am loving the multi-tasking qualities of the eye brushes as well as most of the face brushes and my favourites of the later are the Powder Brush and the Expert Face Brush.  The Powder Brush really is one of the softest face brushes I've ever used and effortlessly blends your powder, bronzer and blush.  The Expert Face Brush has become my favourite multi-tasking brush of all time and is absolutely essential to my makeup kit. Foundation (whether liquid, creamy or compact), cream- or powder contouring, cream- or liquid blush, powder- or liquid highlighting - it works for all of it!

The only disadvantage or inconvenience - and this is from a makeup artist's point of view - is how they sell these. Some of the brushes are sold in sets and some are sold individually;  the ones that come in sets are not sold individually  and the ones sold individually can not be found in the sets.  Now that might not be a problem for most people but as a makeup artist I would love to buy a couple more of, for example, the Base Shadow Brush to use when working since you rarely have the time to clean the brushes while working on the same face/model. It's just always a good thing to have many copies of your favourite multi-tasking brushes. Not being able to  without buying the whole set of 5 (when 3 of them is brushes that I don't feel like I need to have copies of) is kind of a downside since they're really great brushes  so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that in the future they will start selling all of the brushes individually as well as in the sets.


You can find the Real Techniques brushes at a good price on iHerb and Love-Makeup. Find more retailers >here<Svenskar - borstarna finns även på Eleven, Lyko och Brallis men till nästan dubbla priset (och t.o.m. mer på vissa av borstarna). Jag har hört endast bra om iHerb men har själv bara hunnit beställa från Love-Makeup så om ni känner er lite osäkra på att beställa utifrån så kan jag säga att Love-Makeup (som skickar från England) har levererat snabbt och felfritt vid varje order jag lagt.

IDA & LINA'S NOVEMBER LIP TIP


My sister Lina and I have been loving Burt's Bees lip balm during this fall. The brand range includes - among lotions, scrubs, schampoo, different lip products etc - 7 different 100% natural lip balms. We haven't tried all of them, just simply thought we'd share why we love two of them and how they fit our needs.

Lina is all about taking care of her lips and doesn't really have that chapped-lips problem that I tend to have if I'm not careful. If anyone is taking care of ones lips it's her, and her favourite balm is the Rejuvenating lip balm with Acaí Berry.
"I love how it's so soft and creamy", she says - and it really is!  In about 15 minutes after applying it I find my lips already softer which is great when you need a quick boost  and as it wears off it gives a smooth feeling to your lips.

As for me, nothing makes my winter lips heal like Locobase Repair but since I really only use that during the night or when I'm just at home with no need to explain what the heck is going on on my lips [it's a WHITE paste/cream], naturally I also need something that I can carry with me and apply during the day.
Since I wear lipstick basically everyday and prefer satin and matte formulas, it's important to me that it's a balm that will work as kind of a base to wear underneath my lipstick  to at least try to prevent them from drying out. For that purpose my favourite this fall has been the Beeswax lip balm with Vitamin E and Peppermint. Contrary to Lina's favourite, this one gives a much more matte feeling to the lips - a lot like the feeling of the lip primer from MAC when it has settled.

On a side note I want to add that if the state of your lips is really bad - I'm talking cracked winter lips - then I would recommend going for something more healing and thicker to use during the night or - as I mentioned earlier - when you're comfortable looking a bit funny and use a thick cream on your lips for as long as you can as kind of an intense healing mask. Perfect if you're having 2 days off work or over the weekend. If you're able to get it where you live then do try the Locobase Repair, put on a thick layer and reapply as soon as it's worn off for about 1½-2 days depending on how bad it is.


Please tell us! What is your favourite lip balm?


ILLAMASQUA HYDRA VEIL





Well, at least that's what one of the make-up artists from the Selfridge Illamasqua counter told me when visiting a couple of weeks back but I would most definitely see why if it turned out to be true.

I had been really curious about Hydra Veil since the release (and honestly a lot because of just the name itself.. haha) and I'm so happy I decided to buy it.  It's an instantly rehydrating gel which is also said to provide the optimal base for your make-up. If you have very dry skin and you feel like you're missing that moist, dewy look then I really would recommend trying this. My experience is that it really does add moist to your skin and it does work very well as a makeup base due to the kind of sticky texture it leaves on your skin - and you don't need a lot of product. Happy to say it's one of the products that works just as well as I had imagined! And for the make-up artists reading this; it's a dream using as a base on a dry-skin bride!

P.S. Keeping it in your refrigerator is a little bit of heaven on hungover days. Wonderfully cooling and an insant refresher!


If you're keen on taking a look at the ingredients list, I've written it down for you to inspect HERE.

SAVE YOUR POLISH!

 
You know that irritating moment when you realize your favourite nailpolish have turned too thick? Well, a while back when I went to buy a new bottle of Seche Vite  I spotted the Seche Restore from the same brand which simply is a thinner made to restore the polish to its original state. Personally I had been doing the old acetone trick for a long time [putting a few drops into the bottle and letting it sit for a while] but as it turns out, that actually does more damage than it does good.

I collected my old, dried-up favourites, poured some of the Restore Thinner into the bottle and allowed it to it sit over night. I've heard that the best way to use this product is to do it like a "preparation for the next time" instead of right before you're planning to use the polish. Just shake/roll the bottle before use.. And the result? They're saved! The consistency is back to normal and no more throwing away half-full bottles of gorgeous nails colours.  And it works just as well for when your Top Coat is starting to get a little too thick.  I love this!

ILLAMASQUA HOLLOW CREAM PIGMENT

 
One of the products I've fallen completely in love with since my London visit three weeks ago (and have wanted to try since the product released 2 years ago) is the Illamasqua "HOLLOW" Cream Pigment.  As it has that grey-ish, taupe-y colour, it is absolutely gorgeous as a contour on really fair skin  and I'm very excited to get my hands on some of the other colours like Emerge (peach) and Delirium (medium rose taupe) that works as cream blushers. The product is said to be designed to work on the eyes, lips, face and body but unless it was for the runway I personally would prefer to use these on the face or body since I feel they sit a lot better without the chance to crease. However, I find Hollow to work beautifully on the eyes with a primer underneath and an eyeshadow or loose powder on top.

I do feel a little worried that they can dry out fast since the packaging is not as "tightly" sealed as you would expect with a cream product   but only time can tell if this matters or not in this case.  I'll be back with an update!


FAVOURITE LIQUID EYELINER


 
My favourite black: Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in "Perversion".  Love the intensity of the colour, the super skinny brush, the fact that it doesn't smudge and really does stay put until you properly wash it off.

I MIN NECESSÄR..



..hittar du Maria Nila Strong Finishing Spray.  Olika frisyrer och önskemål kräver ofta olika hårsprayer för bästa resultat. Det jag personligen söker är stadga, att den håller tuperingen på plats utan att ge en för stel yta som hindrar mig från att hålla utvalda områden mer naturligt "flowy" - och självklart att den inte ger synliga beläggningar (som ofta uppstår av mer klibbiga sprayer).  Om du söker samma som jag så kan det löna sig att ta en närmare titt på den här. Är osäker på priset för travel size-flaskorna men Lyko.se säljer just nu originalstorleken (300 ml) för 99 sek. Tips!

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