My Concealer-Lovers !

I know that nearly everyone has to try a bunch of different concealers, till the perfect covering friend has been found. And I promise I know what I am talking about! First of all my skincolor is super fair and you should find a concealer that is one or two shades lighter than your foundation (when you want to use it for your eye area). But if you already are such a fair person like me, it’s nearly impossible to find a lighter tone. The truth is, you may won’t even find a shade that would match your foundation, not thinking about a lighter shade.

Besides that I’m not just confronted with a color/shade problem. In addition I also have very dry skin, especially around my eyes. That means I also have to find a concealer offering somehow a moisturizing characteristic.

And the most common problem is the coverage. It’s hard to find a concealer, that really covers the imperfections. Maybe you do not really know, what undertone you should go for to neutralize the bluish shadows underneath your eyes or what shade is right for red spots and rosacea. Maybe you know what you have to get for yourself, but you just can’t find it. Honestly I had a lot of problems and it took me years to find a solution. Which is quite embarrassing as a make-up interested person, thinking that I know a lot about the products on the market enhancing your beauty. Shame on me, but I really had to ask my make-up artist.

Before I show you, what works best for me, I want to give you a few informations, which could help you to find the right product for you.

- What has worked best for me so far, is the corrector & concealer combination. That is what I apply when I’m going to a special occasion, where pictures will be taken. Because on photos your shadows can be visible, even though you are not seeing them in natural lighting. Basically you just have to know, that the corrector, should have a rose/pink or orange undertone and the concealer a yellow undertone, when you are going for this combination. But this looks too heavy for everyday in my opinion.
- Use your fingers to work concealer into your skin and not just the brush. The warms of your fingers will help to get the perfect result.
- Apply the concealer in several layers if you need to. But wait a couple of minutes, after you have applied the first coat. Sometimes it’s looking better after some time and you do not have to go over that area again.
- Keep two different shades of concealer. One that matches your foundation exactly to provide extra coverage, where your foundation is not strong enough. And a second one that is meant to be used on your eyearea, which should be 1 or 2 shades lighter than your foundation. The lighter shade is also good for contouring.
- If you want to cover red parts then you should go for a concealer with green undertones. But put the foundation on top, because you don’t want to walk around with green areas on your skin.
- If you have brownish areas (e.g. age marks), you should go for something yellow based.

I hope that these tips, were somehow helpful and your long journey of trying to find the right concealer is now close to an end.

As I said you should keep, two different shades of concealer. On the picture you can see my two shades next two each other.

The yellowish color on top/(slightly) right side is the matching color to my foundation. The color underneath/(slightly) left is my version of the undereye concealer, which is more of a pinkish shade.



Let’s start with the Bobby Brown-Creamy Concealer in porcelain, which you can see on the left side. I love this concealer, because it provides the best coverage I could find. But it’s not looking as heavy as camouflage products, therefore it’s not looking unnatural. And even though the consistency is very thick, it’s not going to make my skin dry. This is also what I’m using on top of my corrector. But it has the tendency to run into wrinkles (when you use it around the eyes), that’s why you have to put some powder on top. I think I can easily say, everyone will find the right color in the huge range that Bobbi Brown offers. If you already have found the right foundation color, you will immediately have the right color of your concealer as well, because both product categories offer the same color range.



For my eye area I have to use something different, that provides a moisturizing effect, therefore I’ve decided for the Moisturizing Concealer by MAC in NW 15 (but I could also go for NC15/NW20/NC20). I found this concealer over a year ago and I’m not going to give up using this one ever in my life. The flakeyness around my eyes is gone, which always was a huge problem in my case. I have to say, that this concelaer is not giving me full coverage, but with some foundation underneath, I’m perfectly fine.
Both concealer have never irritated my eyes and that’s why I’m saying that these ones are also perfect for people with sensitive eyes.

40 Beauty Questions-TAG

If you are a YouTube-Fan and subscribed to Beauty-Channels you might have heard of this Tag. Since my Videos on YouTube are limited to max. 10 min, I thought that it would be tricky to answer all the 40 Questions in one video and I’m not such a big fan of uploading Part 1, Part 2 & maybe Part 3 separately.

My idea was to write a Blog-Post instead of filming a video, to answer the questions. I just don’t think it’s entertaining enough to listen to my voice for (round about) 30 min, but reading this post could be your evening literature before you go to bed. Wouldn’t that be nice?! ;)

If you don’t know this Tag, here is a little description. Basically you have to answer 40 questions, which are beauty related and fit either to the skincare or make-up category.

Let’s get started…


SKINCARE

How many times do you wash your face daily?
I wash my face twice each day.
In the morning & evening according to my skincare routine.

What skin type do you have? (dry,oily,combo)
I have very dry and sensitive skin.

What is your current facial wash?
As a part of the Clinique-3 Step Skincare System, I’m using the liquid facial soap in extra mild for skin type 1.

Do you exfoliate?
Not in the meaning of doing a peeling. I use the Mild Clarifying Lotion by Clinique for very dry to dry skin, which is made for exfoliation.

What brand do you use?
Skincare related I’m just using products by Clinique. I am very limited, because of my allergies.

What moisturizer do you use?
I ‘m in love with the Clinique-Dramatically Different Moisturizer Lotion and if my skin is extremely dry I’m using Physiogel Intensive Crème for my face.
As a body lotion I’m using the Repair Lotion by Eucerin, which is made for Neurodermatitis affected skin and that is something I have to deal with.

Do you have freckles?
No, I don’t have freckles.

Do you use eye cream?
I got a sample recently by Bobbi Brown. I’ve used this sample a couple of times, but I’m not so sure what to think about it. But I have never used a cream especially made for the eye area before.

Do you or did you have acne prone skin?
No , I wouldn’t say that I had or have acne prone skin. I just have to deal with one pimple here and there from time to time.

Did you ever had to use Pro-activ?
No, but I know that proactive can help. I have to admit that I have no experiences with these products made on my own, but I know that it helped my friend. She hasn’t got rid of her acne, but pro-active helped her skin a lot. I still don’t know if I would decide for these products, because often acne is caused by hormonal reasons and in that case pro active is not going to work. Therefore I would recommend consulting a dermatologist first.

MAKE-UP

What foundation do you use?
For over a year I used Clinique-Supermoisture Makeup in combination with Maximum Cover Foundation by Estee Lauder for my reddish cheeks, where I need higher coverage.
A couple of month ago I bought the Moisture Rich Foundation by Bobbi Brown.
I’m constantly switching between these Foundations, depending on my skin condition.

How about concealer?
I'm using Mac-Select Moisturecover in NW 15 or NC20, that depends on how tan I am. That’s what I’m using for my undereye area. If I need to cover blemishs I’m using Bobbi Brown-Creamy Concealer.

Do you know your undertone color?
I’m not so sure honestly. I know how to find out what undertone color appears on your skin theoretically. You have to turn your wrist under side up and look at the color of your veins.
When they look bluish then you are supposed to have a cool undertone. When you are a warm undertone type then your veins are showing up green. If it’s hard to see your veins in general, that means that you are somehow a neutral undertone color type.
In my case I can see the veins, but they are a mixture of blue & green, so I have no idea what that means. But I think I’m more of a cool type.

What do you think of fake eyelashes?
I like seeing them worn by others, rather than on my own. I prefer the individual single lashes, when I put on some fake ones, because they are still looking a little more natural. If that makes any sense.

Did you know that you are supposed to change your mascara every 3 months?
I’ve heard about that theory, but honestly I use my mascara till I have the feeling, that it’s not doing a good job anymore. It would be a waste of money in my case, because I’m applying mascara max. 2-3 time per week and that means there would be too much product left in the container, if I would throw it away after 3 month.

What brand of mascara do you use?
I’m using mainly Clinique. But I also use Helena Rubinstein.

Sephora or MAC?
That’s so hard to say. I love all my MAC-Baby’s and I have never been to a Sephora-Store, so you might think that’s an easy decision. But when it comes to MAC products I just like their decorative cosmetic! There are so many things I really can’t/don’t want to life without, which are not by MAC. Therefore I think I would go for “my Sephora-Version” called Douglas, where you can nearly get everything beauty related.

Do you have a MAC Pro-card?
No, I don’t have one of these cards. I’m not a professional make-up artist, therefore it’s not possible for me. But I would love to have one, of course.

What makeup tools do you use in makeup application?
I’m using brushes, fingers & eyelash curler.
And when I do the makeup of another person, then I’m also using a card or something like that, to make the mascara applications a lot easier. But I don’t have to use that for myself.

Do you use make-up base/primer for the eyes?
I do use an eyeshadow base, I’m using the one by Artdeco or the Urban Decay-Primer Potion. I’m a big fan of these bases.

For the face?
No and I never have tried one until yet.

What is your favorite eyeshadow (color or shade)?
I love the colour no 288 (aubergine) by Artdeco, which is a duochrome color. That’s surprising to me, because in general I prefer matte colors.

Do you use pencil or liquid eyeliner?
I use both, but the liquid liner is something that I use very rarely.

How often do you poke your eyes with an eyeliner pencil?
I would say never.

What do you think of pigment eyeshadows?
I like them because of their luminance, but they are not working for me in combination with my sensitive eyes. No matter what kind of brand I’ve tried, pigments are always irritating my eyes in just a few minutes.

Do you use mineral makeup?
Yes, I do. I use a mineral powder by MAC and mineral kajal- & lipliner by Artdeco.

What is your favorite lipstick?
I can only say what brand I prefer and that would be ESPRIT. Because they offer so far the best lipsticks for dry lips in my opinion.

How about lipgloss?
I think I’m going to decide for NYX-Lip Lacquer Pot in sweetpea.

What is your favorite blush to use?
BOBBI BROWN-Bronzing Powder in golden light, even if it is not considered as a blush.

Do you buy your makeup on ebay?
No. I’m too afraid of buying an imitation.

Do you like drugstore makeup?
I don’t think that there is anything wrong with drugstore brands. But as I said before I have really sensitive skin & eyes as well. And I have to be really careful, with what I put on my face. The past has shown me that my skin somehow does not really like what the drugstore is offering. Therefore I’m concentrating on lipstick or nailpolish, when I look through the drugstore range.

Do you go to CCO's? (cosmetic company outlets)
No. I have never heard about that before, but after some research I’ve decided to go there, if I would find something like that in my region.

Did you ever consider taking make-up classes?
Yes, I already have.

Are you clumsy in putting on makeup?
No, I don’t think so. At least I hope I’m not clumsy.

Name a makeup crime that you hate.
Normally I would say: “Do what you like to do”.
But there is one thing, I don’t like to see. I don’t like to see woman wearing black lipliner, with red lipstick. I don’t even know if that was common in other countries as well, but that was kind of a trend here in Germany, when I was little.

Do you like colorful shades of makeup (lipstick,eyeshadow) or neutral ones?
That depends on my mood and the occasion.

Which celebrity always has great make up?
I love the style of Tyra Banks, Debra Messing, Jessica Simpson, Beyonce, Kate Hudson, Demi Moore & Holly Madison (even if I don’t know if you really can call her a celebrity). But there is one celebrity I cannot look at because of her makeup and that’s Katie Price, she is looking always so overdone.

If you could leave the house using just ONE make up item, what would you use?
Most of the time I’m leaving the house without any make up on. But if I would have to pick one, it would be lipstick in a colorful shade to add some fresh color to my face.

Could you ever leave the house without any makeup on?
Yes. I do that nearly every day, because I do not really have another choice. Even if I already use products made for sensitive skin, I will have breakout problems, when I use foundation (and all the other things) more than 2-3 times a week.

Do you think you look good even without any makeup on?
I do not feel confident, without any makeup on. But I think I still look somehow presentable.

In your opinion, what is the BEST makeup line?
I really can’t decide. Skincare related it would be Clinique. When it comes to decorative cosmetic it’s probably MAC or Bobbi Brown or Artdeco. So you see, I obviously can’t decide.

What do you think of Makeup??
For me it’s major important, when I want to win some self-confidence. For example, when I have a huge presentation in front of hundreds of people, makeup is able to give me the strength that I need. Even if that might sound weird.
And I always have been a creative person, and playing with makeup is a nice way to show your creativity in my opinion.

Holy Grail Foundation: Moisture Rich Foundation by Bobbi Brown

This has been my absolute favorite foundation since I got to try this about 3 month ago.
My make-up artist told me to try it, because it is especially made for dry skin and offers high coverage. The coverage was always a problem with my Supermoisture-Makeup by Clinique, so I was happy to find a better solution.
So far I love my Bobbi Brown foundation. But even if this foundation is made for dry skin and most of the time it’s working, it sometimes still is not dry skin friendly enough for me.
On some days my skin is just so horrible dry, therefore I will have patchy areas on my face and my skin starts to look flakey. But this shouldn’t say anything bad about this foundation. It just means that this one is not made for neurodermatitis prone skin.


Here you have a picture of me wearing the Bobbi Brown Moisture Rich Foundation in porcelaine.

I still consider the Moisture Rich Foundation being my holy grail, because it’s the first foundation ever, which provides the exact match to my super fair skin color and covers all the redness on my cheeks.
The finish is a very matt version and this is something you have to like and I do like that. But you have to keep in mind that this is probably not giving a glowing Beyonce skin.
It is easy to apply, it will always look even and not streaky at all. I like to describe it that way, that the foundation is going to marry your skin, cause you cannot even tell that you are wearing something on your face.

One note regarding the package/bottle: You need to get a pump, otherwise it’s just too annoying to get the right amount of product out of the container. But as far as I know Bobbi Brown is not producing these special pumps any longer. Before I got one of these pumps from my make-up artist (thank you Stef), I tried the ones from MAC. Believe me the MAC ones will not fit, even though it might be just because of one or two millimeters :(…so don’t even try!

I hope this helped if you already were thinking about trying this foundation to decide whether to go for it or not. And if you are struggling with your dry skin, I hope I could show you another option to deal with that problem.

My Artdeco-Eyeshadow Palette

I’ve been asked a couple of weeks ago, if I could show my Artdeco-Eyeshadows. Since these eyeshadows are the ones I mostly work with for my tutorials, I thought that this would be a good idea. That would make it easier for me and you as well.
During my upcoming videos I could indicate, that you can see swatches and everything you need to know about the colors, on my blog. I don’t know if I’m going to make a video in addition to this post, I think photos are maybe the better option.
(If you really want to see my MAC-Eyeshadows as well, then let me know. I’m trying to avoid tutorials, which are based on MAC-Eyeshadows so far, but if you want to see those make-up ideas as well, then I will start doing them.)

Before I start to show you what I have collected, I thought it might be a good idea, to write a few words about the Artdeco-Eyeshadows.
First of all Artdeco offers hundreds of different shades and as far as I know they are divided into five different finishes: pearly, duochrome (iridescent), matt, glamour (glitter colors) and glam stars (metallic finish).
I love that you can search through all these different colors and every single time I look at them I recognize a new color, which I haven’t seen before (but I need this one immediately, of course).

The most interesting thing for you probably is the price. In Germany one pan costs € 4,80 ( the glamour colors cost a little more). I know that you can find them all over the world, but in Europe they are probably a little more famous. Artdeco products are available in beauty department stores and when you have access to www.douglas.de you can buy them online, too.
In my opinion the quality is amazing and even if they would cost € 5,- more, I would be still in love with them. I can’t really say anything negative about them. The only thing that comes to my mind is that some of the bright pearly colors are not having such a huge pigmentation, but this is a common problem. Once you have used an eyeshadow base, they will show up much more intense.

A few more pro’s:

+ they last all day
+ easy to blend
+ every color combination looks amazing (you can’t go wrong)
+ the colors look beautiful on taken pictures
+ you can build your own customized palette
+ no problems with irritated eyes or skin

Now I would like to start with what this post really is about: My Artdeco-Eyeshadow collection.

On the very first picture you can see my eyeshadows and the picture underneath shows a chart with all the names according to my colors stored in the palette.

And now I will continue with the swatches:

snow touch/rose skin (looks like peach in reality)/light grey beige/chocolate

brazilian coffee/dark grey mocha

iced winter rose/antique purple/red violet/aubergine

golden peach/golden olive/light pine green/moss green/green jewel/smokey blue night

mystical grey/stormy grey/anthracite/black

(I'm sorry that I can't show better pictures of "anthracite" & "black".They do not look so brownish/reddish in reality!)

One explanation is still missing. If you have asked before, what the codes in addition to the colors should tell you, then here comes the answer:
- If the code starts with a “0” then this is a pearly shade
- If the code starts with a “2” then this is a duochrome color
- If the code starts with a “5” then this is a matt color
- If the code starts with a “3” then this is a glamour color
- If the code starts with a “6” then this is a glam star color
The other numbers are just showing the individual color code, which works like an item number. If you are going to buy an eyeshadow, you will need the entire code, cause the name of the color is not shown on the pan.

I hope this was helpful and not to complicated. Maybe you already have experiences with the Artdeco-Eyeshadows, then let me know, what your favorites are.

I have to mention one more thing. The palette you can see here, is not made by Artdeco. Artdeco offers small palettes, but this was not an option for me. I’ve bought this palette from www.kosmetik-kosmo.de .

IN & OUT

I love to read these posts by Laura (lollipop26writes). I don’t really know, what is so fascinating about her In’s & Out’s. Maybe it’s just the feeling, when you read something that makes you think: “ I know exactly what you mean!”. Like those moments when you feel connected to someone, without ever getting to know each other ;)

I’m not trying to copy her by any means (don’t even know if Laura invented this?!?), it’s just something I want to attach to my blogger-routine, because I’m a big lollipop26-Fan.

So here are my (current) IN’s & OUT’s:


IN

RENOVATION
It’s so nice to see, that it does not require much time or money, to turn a boring room into a chic entrance hall. But it’s so much nicer if you do this for your loved ones and get a big love-hug in return.

PAINTING
By redecorating the room, I remembered how much I love to paint on canvas. When I was younger I was more into drawing on white paper (mostly fashion designs). The older I got the more I was enjoying the big screens. But it took me almost 10 years till I finally started to actually put them on the walls, where they belong (instead of the dark cellar).

READING UNNECESSARY BOOKS
By calling these books unnecessary, I’m not saying that there is no need for those books (I definitely feel the need, on those rainy/unhappy days). Realistically you will not learn anything about the necessary things in your life in those random novels, but you can escape to nice fictitious places, you want to have in your own life and experience things you would never get to touch. Dreaming can make life so much more fun! Current favorite: I heart New York by Lindsey Kelk.

TUNA-CREAM
Don’t dare to laugh right now, but I swear that this is making my hair and nails growing faster and my hair looks so much healthier!

TEA
I love tea! For some reason drinking tea during summer is not giving me the same comfortable feeling as is does in fall/winter time. I don’t think it’s because of the fact, that drinking hot tea is not so fun in hot summers, because I don’t mind drinking my tea cold. It just does not taste as delicious as on those cloudy days. Therefore I’m totally fine, when it’s obviously slowly getting colder again (at least here in Germany)!



OUT

EXAM RESULTS
It’s so annoying to wait for an exam result over 2 month right now. And no one cares that the marks must be released latest after 6 weeks, because the (maybe) lazy professor is also the head of our department.

UNANSWERED PHONE CALLS
How is it possible that either “All lines are busy” or you hear the free line signal, but no one is picking up (for about 4 days in the row). If this company is asking for a customer review, I bet I will be not the only one who is acting like “(for ever) currently not available”.

SHADDING BRUSHES
And this includes painting and make-up brushes as well. I don’t know what it is, but all my brushes have some serious hair loss. I hope it’s just a phase, maybe the hormones are running wild ;)

That’s it for now, but I guess this can change every day! Please let me know what you like and dislike.