Belle de Jour: Let’s Play Makeup with Anne-Fleur!

Hey everyone,

I hope you’ve been enjoying your weekend! I’m SO impossibly glad that this one is over. I honestly think the stars were not properly aligned, because a lot of people I know had a rough one! But anyways, if you also had it hard let’s just rejoice it’s over!

A while ago my bestie HM thought it was a good idea to chat up girls on the train and ask them if they wanted to have a makeup play date. Basically the idea is that they could check my stash out, maybe get some new ideas, and have a nice girly time together. I in return get to see (and show you guys) how the pieces look on different skin tones!

That’s how she found Anne-Fleur, our belle de jour. She is finishing her studies in the same town, and she’s one of the rare girls who actually do wear some makeup on a daily basis. She’s extremely nice, smart, and cute!

As I might have told you guys, not so many people in the university town where I live wear makeup. For some reason the general consensus is that if you have brains, you don’t need to pay attention to something as frivolous as your appearance. Law students are probably the only exceptions, but in every other faculty wearing makeup is pretty much frowned upon. That’s also Anne-Fleur’s dilemma. She’s almost the only girl she knows that wears a bit of foundation, mascara, and so on. Sometimes she finds it hard to have to explain to people why she does that.

I used the darkest shade of NYX Rock and Roll trio on her outer corners, Urban Decay Verve as a light wash, and Urban Decay Booty Call for her inner corners. I also patted some Booty Call on the center of her eye lids to brighten her eyes up. Because Anne-Fleur has cute puppy eyes and I didn’t want it to seem obvious that the outer corners droop a little, I only lined the inner 2/3 of her upper lash line. Some mascara and Dior Addict Extreme in Lucky later, she was done!

We went to a book cafe after that for a bite to eat and took some photos of her. Doesn’t she look happy?

Here is the close-up of her eyes.

I think the NYX shade and Lucky definitely look better on her than they do on me!

Anne-Fleur also write a little paragraph about what she thinks of the play date, and here it is:

Because you’re worth it… A statement that catches your eye while watching your TV on a lazy Sunday, or while stopping by at the perfumery on a shopping trip with your girlfriends. Due to the high frequency by which the famous slogan of L’Oréal passes you by, you might no longer reflect on its meaning. I did, when I spent a delightful afternoon with the lovely lady who runs this blog. I was lucky enough to have her arrange my makeup, while being treated with some useful tips and tricks. The result: I felt feminine and beautiful. Like I was worth it. A feeling each of us should have. And I captured it, on a bright Friday afternoon – with a big smile on my face and an ever bigger thank you to Sunny!

To be honest I was really really flattered to read this paragraph! While I by no means encourage everyone to wear makeup, I find it a real pity that people feel the pressure to not wear any when they want to wear some. It always takes a lot of courage to be the odd one out, but I hope Anne-Fleur will go on having fun and looking the way SHE WANTS TO in the future!

Isn’t she so gorgeous and happy? Thanks so much Anne-Fleur for spending a lovely afternoon with us. I truly hope you have taken some positive vibe from our meeting and you’re going to keep being who you want to be!

What do you guys think? Have you ever been criticized or questioned for how much makeup you wear/don’t wear? Is this Belle de Jour series something you would like to see from time to time?

Sunny, your beauty culture translator xx

Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Intense Gives You Eyes So Sexy that They can Kill– #3 #14 Swatch, Review, FOTDs

Is it me or does everybody associate the name of Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill with a spy/police detective/Quentin Tarantino movie?

Just me?

OK.

But I’m sure I’m not the only person who is exhilarated about Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Intense Eyeshadows!

After witnessing all the hype, I finally jumped on the bandwagon and purchased #3 and #14. These are known by numbers instead of names here (or rather by different names. The names I found on Sephora.fr is Ultra Violet for #3, and Or/Noir which means Gold/Black for #14) but in the US #3 is named Purpura and #14 Gold Spirit. And guess what? Even with some tiny hiccups, I can’t get enough of them!

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FOTD: First Day of Spring Featuring Urban Decay Naked2, MAC Added Goodness, Dior Riviera & NOTD Riviera + Hunger Games

Hey everyone!

I had a fun day in Antwerp yesterday with follow bloggers dining, walking around, and attending the Caudalie blogger event. I will give you all the information as soon as possible, but for the moment please excuse this tired girl to just show you her FOTD and NOTD!

Eyes: Naked2
Chopper on two thirds of my lids, and Snakebite to contour. I also dragged Snakebite into my imaginary crease, though the effect is a bit more dramatic than what I would normally do possibly because I was using the brush that came with the palette.
I lined both my upper and lower lash lines with MAC Added Goodness, smudged out with Busted.

Cheeks and rest of the face:
Cargo Rome, Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess

Lips:
Dior Addict Extreme 639 Riviera (just so you know, I wore one layer of this in the pictures so the color is sheer)

Here are some more photos so you can get a better look:

I wore Dior Vernis Riviera 537 on my nails, so I took a photo in which you can see my matching lips and nails:

I have some Dior Vernis and Dior Addict Extremes for review. I will try my best to get the posts ready ASAP, so keep your eyes peeled!

Something else that matches my nails is my current read, Mockingjay, the last book of the Hunger Games trilogy:

The movie came out in Belgium yesterday, and from what I heard it’s a must-see that doesn’t stray far from the book (I think I would enjoy that). I am super busy this week though, so I probably won’t get to see it till Sunday!

What do you think? Are you digging Riviera (I’ll show you how it looks when it is layered a little in the swatch/review post. It could get very bright!)? Have you read The Hunger Games? Are you getting excited about the movie like I am?

Sunny, your beauty culture translator xx

FOTD: Cool Eyes, Hot Lips with Urban Decay Naked2, MAC Added Goodness, & NARS Mexican Rose

Hey everybody!

I’m here to show you the look I did for yesterday’s press event (if you missed that one please click here). I promised to show an FOTD with me sporting NARS Mexican Rose, and I wasn’t going back on that!

I’ll list the things I used that’s different from my regular line-up. I tested out quite some products yesterday. There was one major regret, but all the rest turned out fine!

Ellis Faas Skin Veil s103
Ellis Faas Concealer s203
Urban Decay Naked2 (Verve on lid, Suspect to contour, and Snakebite in the outer v)
MAC Added Goodness Fluidline (from Shop MAC, Cook MAC)
NARS Mexican Rose Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil
Tarte Exposed on my cheeks, Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess to contour.

Let’s being by my one regret: the Ellis Faas Skin Veil s103 is the closest to my skin tone, but the undertone is so pink that it makes me look like Miss Piggy! I have only worn it once so I can’t comment an awful lot about this foundation. Skin Veil s104 is too dark for me at the moment, but the undertone would allegedly suit me better. Maybe I should mix the two shades and give it another try? Let’s wait till the pain of having worn a mismatching foundation has subsided a bit…

Other than that it was great! I need some more time to play with Naked2 before I can assess it properly, but Verve is a welcome addition in my arsenal because I don’t have many cooler-toned eyeshadows. It doesn’t make me look garish either, so that’s a big plus!

I will also swatch/review MAC Added Goodness soon. It is the most gorgeous gel liner I have seen, but I do wish it were more opaque. There was some building-up to do.

Mexican Rose just lasted and lasted till I struggled hard enough to remove most of it by the end of the day. However, with all the talking, the edges did feather a bit. If you plan to wear it all day when you have to talk a lot, you might want to pay attention to that!

Some more pictures so you can see the whole look better:

That’s probably as close as I can ever do a sexy pout lol

That’s my FOTD for ya! Did you see anything new that you want to have? I toyed with the idea of not showing the shameful mismatching foundation pictures with you, but again this blog is also a way for me to keep track of my progress, so please tolerate the oopsie!

I hope your week is going well! Happy hump day and I will see you around!

Sunny xx