Matte lips.

A few months back I was on a lovely little trip abroad and whilst I didn't do much shopping, I couldn't not visit sephora and the NYX counter. 

Lip products are my favourite beauty items, so that's what I went for!

Antwerp

At the NYX counter I couldn't just pick one product to try, but the first one I picked is the soft matte lip cream in the shade Antwerp. It's a soft coral-y pink shade, a bit brighter than the colour of the bullet really. It is very creamy and is easy to apply!

This one reminded me of another item I already had: the collection cream puff. They even smell the same! As far as I can tell, they are the exact same product, but NYX has loads more shades in their range!

The top swatch is the Collection Cream Puff in Cotton Candy, the bottom one is the NYX soft matte lip cream in Antwerp.

The finish isn't completely matte at first, but the gloss disappears when you give it a few minutes to dry.

Strawberry kissed

At Sephora I bought this liquid lipstick from their own range. It's called Cream lip stain and I got the shade Strawberry kissed. It's a very deep pink, almost red, but not quite!

This is the most peculiar lip product I've ever tried: it is very pigmented and applies smoothly. But once it sets it will stay there until you remove your make up. It survives eating and drinking and doesn't stain other people's cheeks when you kiss them. It. Will. Not. Budge!

Here's a swatch, although I'm afraid the colour isn't entirely correct. It's a bit more pink, just like the two previous photos!

Eden

The other NYX item is a Matte Lipstick in the shade Eden. This a very hard to apply, you do need a brush for this! It's a bright red with a blue undertone to it. I thought it was a bit darker when I bought is, but it's quite bright!

Here's a swatch: top is Strawberry kissed, bottom is Eden. Again the colours aren't exactly as they should be, Strawberry kissed is more pink, and Eden is less orange.

I like all three of these, but I'm most amazed by the lasting power of the Sephora lip stain!

Sincerely,
R.

New Year's resolutions.

Easy peasy recipe: a red smoothie.

Christmas is here, which means parties with family, decorations, lights, presents and loadtrucks full of food. I personally overeat quite a bit during the Holiday season, so here's a lighter snack that still has a Christmas-appropriate colour!

Favourite foundation.

If you know my make up habits a little, you'll know that I'm not a fan of foundation. I barely use it because it looks far from natural and it's never the right colour. That changed somewhat this autumn as I have discovered a foundation that I truly like!

Easy Peasy Recipe: a green smoothie.

As you can see by the number of times I've posted anything on this blog lately, I've been very busy. Nonetheless I'm trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Most recently I ventured into the world of green smoothies. As I understand it, those are smoothies with vegetables in them. Preferably a lot of vegetables and not too much fruit as to avoid too much sugar. So after blending a banana and an avocado that I still had laying around as an enthusiastic first attempt, I went to the shop to buy a few ingredients that I thought would work well together.

A couple new home bits.

I've been doing a bit of homewear shopping and decorating lately, so I thought I'd show you my favourite new items!

What I ate today.

Hello there!
Well this is not a full blogpost, but I wanted to show this: my very first YouTube video!

It's called "What I ate today.", so I suppose the concept is pretty clear to everyone. As the food journals I posted here were quite popular, I figured this might be interesting too!
Let me know what you think!

Sincerely,
R.

An exercise update.

It's been months since my last exercise update already! In the last update I'd just managed to transition from shod running to barefoot running. Here's how things have been since then!

German drugstore haul.

So my sisters and I made another quick trip across the border and went to DM in Germany. I didn't really need anything, but it's always nice to try a few new things!

Summer make up.

Exactly one month ago I tweeted I'd gone to the drugstore and got a few new goodies. I've written about a couple of them already, but I thought I'd show you them, tell you what I think, and tell you how I've been doing my make up this summer. 

 

Learning to relax.

Well, I haven't written many blogposts lately. Reason is that I need some time for myself. I've been very stressed out and need to learn how to relax. How? Here's some advice and a few products that I enjoy to help me.

Primark purchases.

Two friends of mine and I went to Primark in the weekend and naturally I got a few new things. It's always a special occasion to go there as we don't have one nearby. Here's what I bought!

Five pressed powders.

As summer arrived, my face has gotten a bit more shiny too. I usually don't wear foundation, but a bit of powder is often a good idea. So I'd like to show you the pressed powders I've got before using them any further!

A review: Essence lash princess volume mascara.

For the past nine months I've been using the same mascara, but as I ran out of it (and it's not available here) I was forced to try a new one. I always go for budget friendly mascaras and the one I picked is the Essence lash princess volume mascara. So let's take a look up close!

Two new Rituals products.

Again it's been a long time since I've posted anything here. I've been very stressed out a couple months back and needed to rest without feeling obligated to do anything. I didn't feel like writing, and the world wouldn't stop turning if I didn't!

But here I am again, writing a new blogpost! I wanted to show you two products from Rituals that I got recently, one of which should aid in relaxation!

A review: Kruitvat pure and nature lipbalm.

On Saturday I was browsing through drugstore Kruidvat. I wasn't in need of anything but I picked up this lipbalm. The ingredient list is what persuaded me to buy it, so let's see if it's any good! I also added a few alternatives that should be available in the UK.

An exercise update: going barefoot.

Spring is here, and there's only a few months left until bikini season. So how's exercising been? Well it's been awful for a while: I haven't been doing my planks and running was going bad. I neglected the planking because my shoulders were all tense (I'm getting that fixed now) and running wasn't going well because I've been under a lot of stress lately. But now I'm getting back on track with running and I'm doing it barefoot! Care to know how that's going? Keep reading!

A review: beautyuk blush.

Blushes are one of my favourite make up items! As I don't have much colour in my cheeks, they bring my face to live! On myself I much prefer pinks and peaches to brown and taupe. The blush I want to show you today is one of the brightest shades I have in my collection: beautyuk blush & brush in the shade Capital Pink.

Currently reading: Dreamland.

Lately I've been trying to read just one book at a time and it's rather nice to do so! The book I'm reading at the minute is called dreamland and was written by David K. Randall, who's a journalist. It's a non-fiction book that handles one of my favourite activities and topics: sleep. As you can see I'm not reading it in English; I got the Dutch version.

Easy peasy recipe: the best porridge I've ever had.

One day I was hungry and decided to make some porridge. I added some extras to make it more interesting and less carb-heavy. Now it's my new favourite breakfast! Here's the recipe!