New Year's Eve Makeup Look

Hello! Since I missed on the christmas makeup look, I decided that I would do a New Year's Eve makeup for you. New year's eve is such a fun time to play with makeup! You're entering a new year, you can use and abuse the glitter, the sparkle, the shine and the metallic shadows, it's a celebration time and nothing better than makeup to show how excited you are for the new year that is ahead of you.

So I did this look inspired in Simone Simons' stage makeup for Epica's Utrecht show with loads of glitter and sparkle! I was scrolling down her Instagram to find a photo that she has with Fernando from Moonspell and came across this beautiful makeup that looks so festive. I instantly got a boom of inspiration and decided that today I would do this look for the post.
My version of it turned out a lot less dark but still very sparkly, I hope you enjoy it.

In Simone's Instagram photo, her eyeshadow looked pretty metallic and in a grayish blue shade. That's what I tried to mimic with this metallic teal eyeshadow that reflects gold in certain lights. Most of the eyeshadows I used are from this new palette I was given for christmas that I will show in a future post in my christmas haul.

I used this color all over my lid till the crease. In the crease I used first a matte shade a couple of shades darker than my natural skin tone as a blending color. Then I placed black in the outer V, creating a cat eye effect, just like Simone had. I blended it all out with a fluffy brush I got as christmas present, which I will also show you in a future post. On the lower lid I used black on the outer corner, connecting it to the top lid and some of that teal shade along the inner third of the lower lash line. In the inner corner of my eye I used yet another eyeshadow from that palette that is very shimmery and that highlights the eye quite a lot.

Now for the fun part, the glitter!

Simone had loads of sparkle going on and that's what I tried to do too by using gold glitter. Glitter tends to fall out a lot if it doesn't have a base to stick to. If, like me, you don't have a glitter base, here's a tip: take your clear eyebrow gel, rub your ring finger in the wand and use that gel very lightly all over the lid. While it's still wet place the glitter on top. It will stick to it like no other.

I used a gel eyeliner to line the eye. I did a line a little more dramatic than usual for this one.

I also used that same gel liner on my water line, to give the eye a bit more of depth and drama.

You can't skip lashes with this look and that's why I used quite dramatic ones from Ardell in 131 Black.

I also filled in my brows with H&M Dark Brown eyebrow pencil and used a clear brow gel to keep them in place.

I don't use foundation. I have created some sort of aversion to foundation, I hate the feeling of liquid foundation. I just don't use it in general. I only used some moisturizing cream and concealer in my problem areas and to highlight under the eyes.

I then set all of that with a translucent powder and move on to face sculpting. 

Try to go with your natural shape, only enhancing it a little bit. That's what I did by placing a little bit of bronzer on my cheeks to define them and just a dash on my temples. I then went to a pinkish blush similar to Nars' Orgasm and highlighted the tops of my cheekbones, nose, chin and cupid's bow.

For the lips I used a lipstick that is the exact same shade as my natural lip color.

Simone had a peachy pink color on that seemed very glossy and quite a big outline on those lips, but I decided to leave it a bit more subtle there.

And that's the look complete! I'm not gonna do this one on myself but I've already got requests to do it on someone else. This year I've decided not to use glitter on myself.

I want to make a little note here and say that most of the photos for this look have zero to no edition. All credits to the amazing Catarina from the blog D'une Lune and a huge thank you to this girl for the spectacular job she did today.

This is it for this week's post! I hope you have liked it and gotten inspired for some new year's looks.

I will be back this weekend with a christmas haul with all the goodies I got for christmas.

Love,

Anna

Last Minute DIY Christmas Present Ideas

Hi! I was supposed to do a look post this week but turns out I didn't have time for it and, as you can see, I'm a little late because I've been busy with some last minute christmas presents.

I decided to give you a couple of ideas for some last minute DIY presents that you can easily make at home without spending so much money but still being thoughtful.
Most of the ideas I'll be suggesting I have already made myself for birthday presents and such, so I believe you will be fine with these cause they're possible in fact.

Let's get started!

This idea is probably one of the quickest that I will be presenting. 

All you need is a plain mug in whichever color you would prefer, a couple of Sharpies in the colors you desire and an oven. 

Pick up a Sharpie and draw onto the mug the design that you want the mug to have. You can use as many colors as you want and draw or write whatever you want.

To make the design permanent you will want to place the mug with the design on in the oven at 230ºC for 30 minutes. You want to place the mug in the oven before you turn it on and let it heat up till the desired temperature and let it cool down inside of the oven as well. This way you don't risk breaking the mug because of the drastic temperature change.

And you're all done! Now you just have to be very careful with washing. Use a very soft sponge to clean it or you can risk erasing the design fairly quickly.

This is a fun idea for the kids and very simple as well!

All you need is a jar that has a lid, a couple of figures or toys that will fit the jar, glitter, water and glycerin.

If you want to further personalize this snow globe buy molding clay that hardens in the oven and sculpt whatever figure you want to add to your snow globe.

When you have the figure and everything you will want to decide whether you want the lid of the jar to be facing up or down. 

You want to glue the figure to the lid or to the bottom of the jar, whichever you prefer and fill the jar with lukewarm water. 

Add as much glycerin as you want to the water. The glycerin's function is to thicken the water making the fake snow fall slowly rather than quickly. All that is missing is the glitter. Choose multiple sizes of white or transparent glitter and even glitter flecks or foils to give it that wintery look.

Close the lid shut and tight, shake it and you're left with a beautiful snow globe that you can then decorate with ribbons and strings to make it even more lovely!

I have received one of these and I think they're oh so cute. Such a thoughtful gift!

It doesn't get easier than this. You just need a free CD and knowledge about the person you're giving this present to and your computer will do the job for you. Get it into a CD box and make a pretty cover for it and there you go! A simple yet perfect gift that will make anyone very happy.

Me and my mom did this one last year and everyone seemed to love it!

You put the dry ingredients of a specific cake/cookie inside of a mason jar, layer by layer, achieving this layered effect that allows the person to see what's inside. All the person has to add is the liquid/wet ingredients such as milk, water, oil, etc.

After you close the jar you want to label the jar with the name of the baked goodies that you can make with the content of the jar and also add the recipe with the amount of each wet ingredient the person has to add as well as how long and at which temperature it has to bake.

If you want you can also add a ribbon to make it a bit more pretty and you have yourself a fun gift!

These are just some ideas I wanted to share with you. They're simple yet thoughtful!
I hope it was somehow helpful!

(All images from Pinterest)

I wish you a very Merry Christmas or Hanukkah or whatever it is that you celebrate these days.

Love,

Anna

Festive Black

Hello! So this week I bring you a post that I loved doing.
This post is for those of us who only wear black. It seems that my parents and family in general find it somehow offensive that I wear black in these special holiday occasions because "it's a sad color". I personally think that black is a very classy colour that flatters everyone, no matter your size, your skin colour, your height.

My intention with this post is to show you some options to turn your all black look into something more festive, more appropriate for the holiday season.
I will talk you through all my choices but I want to say, in advance, that these looks I put up are a bit more on the "classy" side of the black but these are my personal choices, this is how I would put up a black look for the holiday season that I would actually wear.
With no further due, let's get started!

Nude

When I think of looks for this season, I always think of dresses.
I wear dresses and skirts most days and the holiday season is not an exception.

For this look I picked a black velvet dress with a flared skirt and a boat neckline.

This is the central part of the look. To turn the look a bit more festive I would pair it with nude shoes. Nude shoes elongate the legs and make you look much more elegant because of that fact. These Louis Vuitton Allamanda pumps would be a good option because of the silver point that give it that glamorous look. A clutch in neutral colour is something you can go for to lace up the neutral look, after all you're only using neutral colours.

For the makeup I would suggest a neutral eye with some shimmery eyeshadows to highlight and a nude lip. I chose Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G. lipstick in Hepburn Honey.

Finish the look with some silver jewelry and you're done! 

A very neutral and elegant look!

Golden

If you're going to a big party, a long dress or skirt is the perfect choice!
Here I paired a lace crop top with a very full maxi skirt.
If you know me, you know that I hate crop tops but only when they're not used correctly. I selected a crop top to pair with this skirt because this skirt sits high around the waist so it doesn't show too much skin with the crop top.
The lace gives this look a more sophisticated feel and you don't need to worry about necklaces because the beauty of the lace embellishes the neckline beautifully.
Any type of black pumps would go well with this type of look, pointy or round.
Since it's such a simple look and gold compliments lace beautifully, I would go for gold simple earrings and some sort of golden clutch. I love Alexander McQueen and these clutches that have the places for the fingers are just to die for so it would be an amazing option.
Go for a neutral nude eye with a winged liner and a very bold reddish purple lipstick to finish off this outfit.

A touch of colour: Red

Now to get out of the neutral and to add a pop of colour, red is a great option. Jewel tones like red, green and blue are always good colours to match with black.
In both of these looks I mixed colours and textures.
For more girly and flirty look like the one on the left, I would use a bardot style top and a flared leather skirt. A red chunky necklace and very simple red pumps would do great as a pop of colour.
For a more bold and professional look I would go for a V neck top and a pencil leather skirt that goes a little past the knee. A bordeaux necklace and bordeaux platform boots would be a great combo.
I also picked a bordeaux overall that would go with both looks.
Simple jewelry and simple makeup, topped with either a red lipstick or a rusty pink lipstick and you're done!

A touch of colour: green

For a more casual look, go for pants and flats. Here I picked some loose black pants with a bit of detailing to them. This kind of pants can easily conceal the shape of your body, so I would go for a peplum top. I love peplum tops in general because they give you a hourglass figure even if you don't have that body shape.
Nothing is better to give that touch of colour than shoes and accessories so the shoes I picked are obviously green. I think they are beautiful, I would totally wear them, just an amazing way to make the look more fun. Use whatever jewelry you feel would go well with the look, I would obviously go for some silvers and golds and greens.
Pinks and purples go beautifully with greens so I would suggest a purple pink lipstick and nail polish to finish the look.
If you're getting out of the house, a blazer is the solution.

And that's it!
These are the suggestions I have on how to make your all black outfit a bit more festive and on how to give more of a holiday feel to it. Even if you're not the kind of person who always wears black everything I think these looks would still be a good option for the holiday season cause black is a classic.
I hope you have enjoyed this post and I hope to bring you a christmas look next week!

Love,
Anna