All posts tagged: Beauty

Treading Into Glossier Waters

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Glossier…. Aka the Holy Grail of skincare according to many. I’m sure this is not the first article you’ve read on the brand, God knows how many articles I’ve read on it, but still, I’d like to add in my 2 cents as well. I couldn’t resist temptation any longer, and asked (no, pleaded) sweet Katia to bring me back some Glossier goodies when she hopped across the Atlantic to discover New York, and thanks to her being the amazing friend that she is, I finally got my mittens on some products. All in the name of blogging of course! For those not aware who or what Glossier is (where have you been?), it’s a beauty and skincare brand created by a super savvy woman (Emily Weiss) super savvy women who know what they want: Enhance what you’ve got and flaunt it, instead of hiding it. No frills, no faffing about, but luxury products that work for a price that doesn’t break the bank. Add in smart packaging, formulas that work and a loyal millennial …

Bourjois Rouge Velvet The Lipstick

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It’s Friday, I’m in love! What better way to start the weekend than a kick-ass lipstick and an overflow of shades to choose from? A girl has to have options, right? Bourjois understands that like no other, and launched their Rouge Velvet The Lipstick Collection late last year. A mouth-watering series of 12 matte lipsticks promising to be intensely pigmented and long-wearing, a touch of French glamour and va va voom. Oh la la…. The Rouge Velvet The Lipstick is not the first lipstick collection I’ve tried from Bourjois, and they’ve  proven themselves to be a premium drugstore brand with their previous lippie launches. Their attention to detail sets them aside from their competitors, with the lipstick bullet shaped for precision application and the casing of the lipstick matching the shade inside. Now all that could just be unnecessary extra’s if the lipsticks themselves turn out to be a dud, so I put the 6 shades that I have at home through the ringer over the holidays, and to be honest, I was suitably impressed! The …

Goldfield & Banks Pacific Rock Moss

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Raving about the most summer-y looking, sounding and evoking fragrance in the freezing dead of winter, quite the contradiction, right? And no, I see no issue whatsoever with that… I’ve never been the type to match my perfumes to the season and do that switch up twice a year, I just go with my mood each morning, and see my fragrance as the extension of my day ahead. Goldfield & Banks and I met by chance, a late night Instagram inspiration session (‘cause all modern-day couples meet like that nowadays…), a splash of blue, a ray of sunlight, an image that stoopped my heart, and I was sold in an instant! Never having held the bottle, never having experienced the scent, and still, the atmosphere and story of that image was so beguiling that I wanted to know more, smell more, experience more! Dimitri Weber was one of Belgium’s perfume PR exec’s par excellence. After a thriving career that saw him represent the best of the olifactory best, create the signature fragrance for an interior …

Autumn Newbies – How do they stack up?

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Autumn is more than halfway, I know, but still…Earlier this week I mentioned my skincare routine being in dire need of a shake up (check this article), and as some interesting skincare tidbits had landed on my desk and my skin was no in the best shape ever, I trialled and tested some new bits to see if they had what it takes. What came next is a tale of the good, the bad and the ugly. Or, the good, the semi-ok and the not-for-me! Caudalie and I go way back (check the first years of this blog, and you’ll find a myrriad of pieces on Caudalie), and whenever they launch a new product, I am all ears, and in this case, all face. The Caudalie Vinoperfect Concentrated Brightening Essence is the first one that actually made me want to try essences, because what one earth could be the added bonus of an essence? For starters, what do it actually do? Is it a cleanser? A toner? A micellar water? No, no and no! More …

A Tale Of Caving In (Into The Ordinary)

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Us bloggers are at the same time a critical and impressionable bunch. Sure, years of testing, trialling and studying have taught us a thing or two, which makes that we approach new launches with caution, but when friends and fellow beauty afficionada’s start raving about that same new launch, we end up throwing that same caution to the wind, hop on the bandwagon and end up ordering the product anyway? Me? Guilty as charged! Case in point: The Ordinary. I steered clear from the brand for a long time, not quite trusting the low price / high quality claim and feeling bulldozered by the extensive catalogue of products… something about not seeing the wood for the trees and such… But still, curiosity won, and I caved. Cue back to a few weeks ago, when my serum stash was dwindling and my skin was in need of a shake up of my skincare routine. My curiosity was getting the better of me, so I dove in, did my research and ordered the 100% Squalane Oil, the …

Twinning is winning, even with bodycare

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DNA is a thing of wonder, often baffling me when I recognize little things my kids do or have and that I can trace back directly to me. Case in point, my daughter’s extremely dry and sensitive skin which is so much a carbon copy of mine that it is almost scary. Equally parched, itchy, reactive and prone to contact dermatitis, I am even more obsessed when it comes to keeping her skin in tip top shape as I am about my own. So far, I’ve looked at a lot of brands, tried only a few and loved even less, so you’ll understand my caution when the Dermalex Supreme Moisturizer* and the Dermalex Baby Eczema Cream* arrived on our doorstep. I know I can handle an itchy reaction or an allergic flare up, but when it comes to Little Miss C and her skin, I’d rather take no chances at all. So first I did a little pre-testing, and then, you guessed it, testing became twinning. ‘Cause twinning is winning. With years of extensive body …

Sometimes, a red lip is all you need

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No really, hear me out! As much as we like to do a full on 3-colour eyeshadow look, wing that liner into oblivion or bake ourselves in bronzer, sometimes, a clean red lip really is all you need. Paired with a flick of the right mascara and a little touch of a transparant powder, less really is more. French chic, quoi?! Over the last few weeks some Make Up For Ever bits and bobs have snuck into my daily make up bag, and even though some items are loved more than the other, they all uphold to that sacred standard of quality above all (#personalpreferencesatplay). Finally available in Belgium, I could not contain my curiosity (Curious George – the beauty edition) and started playing around with some of their classics. I start of with a little dusting of the Ultra HD Microfinish Loose Powder, and if it’s good enough for red carpets and HD movie close ups, it’s more than good enough for my day filled to the brim with pitches and meetings! This ultra-finely milled silica …

Holding On To That Summer Feeling With Le Petit Marseillais

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My Summer tan might be long gone and temperatures over 20 °C a distant memory, but at least of one my Summer favourites is crossing over into Autumn/Winter territory. A refreshing dip in the pool after work makes way for a relaxing bath and face mask session as my beloved me-time-moment, but Le Petit Marseillais stays by my side. This French brand needs no intro, and everyone who, like me, adores their products and scents will love these two new lines: the Express Body Sprays and the P’Tits Bonheurs (little bursts of happiness)? The P’tits Bonheurs really are these little bursts of soap-y happiness. Out the  4 ‘flavours’ (Au Pays du Miel & une Nuit, Ma Pause Coco-ning, Ma Vie en Rose, Croquez la Fraise à Pleines Dents), I have been savouring the Miel & Un Nuit, in which the honey from the French Alps is a one-way trip to the land of  milk & honey, and Ma Vie en Rose, more fragrant than 100 handpicked roses brightening up the room. Literally night and day, these two could not be more …

Atelier Cologne

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To be honest, a lot of foot-dragging took place before I finally decided to write this post. First up, I’ve been in this weird mood lately where I want to create a structure and post with a fixed regularity, but at the same time I just can’t bring myself to write long reviews out of fear that they would become plain boring. Second of all, my perfume collection currently houses more scents than you can shake a stick at, so I feel like a spoiled brat for adding even more fragrances in, even when they are as cute and alluring as the two mini’s laying before me at the moment, namely the Atelier Cologne Figuier Ardent and the Atelier Cologne Clementine California. Atelier Cologne’s answer to Diptique’s Philosikos, and their take on the green succulence and wild richness of figs, Figuier Ardent seems to have a more natural and green  approach. Instead of burying it amongst sweetness, the fig is being placed centre stage amongst a sirocco of spices placing a spotlight on that that central note. …

Summer Favourites

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Summer really did flew by. Seems like only yesterday I was writing my June favourites post, fully intending to do one for July and one for August as well. Family issues took over, summer did not  feel like summer and before I knew it, September 1st had come and gone. However, there were a few products that I used (and repurchased) religiously these last two months, and it’s safe to say they’ve been crowned my summer favourites. I’ve gushed about the Avène Gentle Exfoliating Gel before (see this post), and described it as ‘gentle enough not to aggravate or strip my sensitive skin but efficient in it’s exfoliating ways’. It was inevitable that this was going to be one of my summer loves, it’s been repurchased, used, loved and recommended, and between this beauty and the Pixi Glow Tonic, I’ve got my exfoliation covered. Make up-wise, I’ve been loving the Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire Universal Tinted Gel, Rosy Cheeks and Lips (what’s in a name), and not much else. Remember how last year’s summer somehow …