I’m about to write a pretty girly how-to makeup post. It would almost warrant a YouTube video—if it weren’t simple enough for a monkey!
Two completely random events conspired last week for me to come up with a whole new makeup look (just when I thought I’d tried it all). 1) A 100-degree heat wave hit Los Angeles for two days putting the entire city in a sweat. And 2) I ran out of my favorite dirty mascara.
And so, the look that I’m calling “night-for-day face” was born. All you need are two products that you likely already have: bronzer (or blush if you don’t do bronzer) and a pencil eyeliner. It’s night-for-day because I like to wear eyeliner (with mascara) and bronzer for evenings out in the summer. But, while the eyeliner gives this look a touch of evening edge, it’s so light that it passes as polished without being too much for daytime wear.
The absolute best part about this face though? It’s 100% weather-and-activity-proof. There’s no leaks or smudges or runs. And it’s really really easy to reapply during the day. Also, it’s super liberating to not wear mascara but still have a little eye happening! Here’s what I do.
Prep: I’ve been using the Marie Veronique face oil, which smells and feels amazing. (Would I pay the $110 for it? Nope, probably not, but I got this bottle gifted.) The oil really helps the bronzer apply nicely though your usual moisturizer will likely do the trick. My skin has been pretty clear lately so (knock on wood), I’ve been using minimal concealer.
Apply: Bronzer with my finger (love the studio 78 one) under my cheekbones and slightly up around the contour of the bone. A tiny bit along the bridge of my nose as well as my eyebrow bone. Then I very lightly line the inside of my eye with a black pencil (Jane Iredale or HoneyBee Gardens). Very very lightly though, so that it’s more of a translucent gray than black if that makes sense. If you go too dark without mascara your eye will look small, but somehow that doesn’t happen if you do the line barely there.
That’s it! You can add some lip gloss or a touch of color on the lip, but the trick is light touch with everything or else you just look made up.
What have you been doing with your makeup these days??
After having read the morning routine of Nina today I feel invited to sent mine as well to let her known that also “older” women read this blog and are interested in a more green skincare routine.
Name: Martine
Age: 41
Hometown: Vught, The Netherlands
Current weather: lots of rain and wind after a short period of winter
Hair: fine, straight, dark blond/brown, just under my ears in a bob
Star From The Past: Grace Kelly, because of her classic beauty and her great sense of style.
I work as a management assistant 3 days a week and we don’t have kids. I live together with a French guy in Holland since 2009.
Skin: Even though I’m already 41 I still have pimples, sometimes small but also bigger ones. My skin is also rather oily.
Last year I became very upset with all this so I started a rather rough routine with salicylic products, I bought the Clairsonic which I started to use everyday etc etc.
But my skin only became worse, very oily, pimples and I didn’t understand at all why my skin reacted this way. One day I read an advise on a Dutch internet site saying that if your skin is overreacting and you don’t know how handle it anymore you should just stop everything for about 4 day. So no more cleaning, no more creams, just let it be.
Being desperate I followed this advice and I noticed my skin calmed down, the pimples went away and it looked less oily. This was a real eye-opener for me.
Slowly I re-introduced skincare products but now I choose products for a sensitive skin instead of an oily skin and I started looking for green products.
The problem is that we don’t have some much choice in the Netherlands. We are way behind regarding green skincare in comparison with the US, UK, France, Germany…
If I want to buy a green skincare product I need to buy them on the internet which means that I can’t smell it, feel it or just see it in real and I pay transport costs as well.
Fortunately the people behind these sites are very willing to sent samples but that’s not the same. I love to go to a store and see brands like Mario Badescu, Malin + Goetz, Neal’s Yard etc etc for myself. But I’m also lucky: living together with a French man I go to Paris rather often and there I can find a lot of brands and products like, for example, the Goe Oil which is sold at Chez Collette as well as the deodorant of Soapwalla which I bought chez Collette last December. This is a real privilege. Every time I go to Paris I make a list in advance to make sure that I don’t forget anything. And every time I discover new brands as well. The last time I went I discovered an Aesop boutique in the Marais. I immediately bought their hand cream. So in this way I have access to a lot products others can’t find as easily in Holland.
In the shower…
I take a shower each morning to wake up. Without the shower I don’t feel awake and fresh. Right now I’m looking for a good green shampoo + conditioner so I have bought a trail set from a Dutch brand called O’Right. I love the products but I don’t like the smell (smells like roses but not in a nice way…).
I have very fine hair which I also dye so I need something that takes care of the colour but doesn’t make weigh down my hair.
So I usually don’t even use a conditioner but I noticed lately now that winter has started that my hair becomes dryer and that it tangles more.
I now want to buy a trail size set of Karpati shampoo + conditioner. This is a green Australian brand and I’m very curious what it’s like.
I already tried Logona shampoo and some French and German brands which I bought at a store like Wholefoods but they didn’t appeal to me at all.
So I hope Karpati will do the thing! I usually wash myself with a solid soap. I have some samples of Chagrin Valley soap, which I adore and also some Olive oil soaps.
If I want to do a quick shower I use a shower gel from Korres (Greek brand) or Cowshed (English brand), both natural brand which smells great and natural. The Cowshed brand is all about organic, wild-crafted and fair-trade plant extracts and essential oils. Usually I don’t use a cleaner anymore in the morning for my face.
Rinsing my face under the shower is enough. I like to use a body scrub but I haven’t found anything green that really appeals to me. Recently I have found a site in the Internet where they make beautiful scrubs them and I really want to order something soon.
Outside the shower…
During spring and summer I use a face oil from Stark skincare of an aloe vera gel from Uspa. I really love the oil. It’s very light and doesn’t stay on skin for the rest of the day.
And I love the smell!!!! The Aloe vera gel I use when I feel that my skin needs some more hydration.
I use a under eye cream stick from Kiel’s, facial Fuel eye-de-puffer, in the morning. It’s very light and fresh. Because I have an oily skin I don’t want to feel anything sticky on my face. I need the products that I use to be absorbed immediately otherwise I feel oily all day.
Last spring/summer I spent a lot of time on the Internet looking for a good, as natural as possible, SPF cream. I asked samples everywhere and I have found one that I will buy soon.
It’s the Invisible Zinc ESP moisturizer SPF30+. It’s an Australian brand which works great on my skin. It doesn’t leave my skin white, it’s not too heavy on my skin and I feel really protected with the SPF 30.
In the evening I clean my face very well. I have several cleansers which I use depending my mood. Together with the cypress oil and tea mask I also bought the grapefruit cleansing balm of Stark Skincare. This smells divine and it leaves my skin clean without being stripped. I also have the Shea Rose Clay soap of Chagrin Valley which I use with the Clairsonic or by itself. It doesn’t strip my skin but it leaves my skin very soft and clean.
Normally I use the face oil of Stark also in the evening or the special face tonic of Dr. Hauschka, depending the time of year. But this year during the last winter period beginning of January, I felt that my face was very itchy and red after cleaning. I didn’t understand, I never have a dry skin…. But I went to a special boutique with only natural skincare and the lady over there explained that due to the fact that I’m getting older (OMG!) my skin becomes less oily, specially during winter so that I had to adapt my skincare. So I bought a very rich cream based on Shea butter of the French brand Terre d’Oc which I can use as a mask but also as a night or day cream when used as a very small layer. I also bought a trail size of the Rose cream of Dr Hauschka and that’s really great. This one smells like roses in the nice way! And it’s very rich as well so since use them I no longer have an itchy skin.
Each morning I use a body cream. The one I use lately is from the French brand Cattier. It’s a large size (500ml) and it comes with a pump, so easy. But I like to try new body creams all the time so when this one is finished I will look for something else. But it will always be a natural brand. For my legs I use a body oil. Normally I use the body oil of Nuxe (French brand) but the last time I bought an oil of Melvita (also French). Even though I like Melvita I prefer Nuxe. This one smells great and I haven’t found any other oil that smells that good.
Finishing touches…
Well, I don’t use lots of make-up. Again because I have an oily skin type. I don’t like anything sticky on my face or something that comes off after 2 hours at the office. I only use some mascara and some eye pencil. But most of the time use lipstick or lip balm or lip-gloss. I like the effect of just putting on something so small on your lips. It really makes a big difference.
For special occasions I do like to make an effort; I will use a BB cream of Eborian (French/Korean brand), some eye shadow (Bobbi Brown, I know not green yet) and blush and I really like the way I look. But taking it off at the end of the day/evening makes me just as happy.
I like to use a perfume. I haven’t replaced them yet by a natural one because I love the ones that I have too much.
During winter I wear “Black jade” by Lubin (a small, very old, French perfume house) and during summer I love! Aqua Allegoria Herba Fresca by Guerlain.
It took me some years but I have finally found my signature perfumes. I don’t think that I will ever change them again.
During the year I usually take 2 detox cures from Arkofluide (French brand).This contains 20 ampoules which you take first thing in the morning with some water. I really feel the cleaning effect. I also belief that taking care of your body by being aware of what you eat is very important as well. I use less sugar and carbohydrates, soymilk products and more fruit and vegetables. With this routine I take care of my body and that shows on the outside as well.
Since I really choose for a more natural approach of my skincare and being aware of what I eat my skin never looked better than today.
I hope to be able to go to the US next year with my boyfriend for a 3 weeks holiday. I’m already looking forward of all the natural skincare products that I can shop for than :-)).
The wish list is getting longer each time I read your blog.
A little while back, Alexandra, Siobhan and I professed our love for Juice Beauty’s CC Cream. I’ve been into a couple of Juice’s other products for the past few months, too. The brand really seems to be rocking it this past year or so. Here are two current favorites…
Irresistible Glow Facial Highlighter: This is from the Alicia Silverstone collection (vegan), which has appeared on NMDL before. It’s a stick packaged in a sturdy paper tube, and there’s just one color, described as a universally flattering peachy-pink. I am not a big believer in one-color-fits-all products, and until I found this I’d never had any luck with such a thing. But I absolutely LOVE this! I use just a tiny bit on my cheeks, and it suits pale, olive me very well. It gives a little color, and a glow without being sparkly. It’s very subtle when applied lightly, though you can definitely layer it. It does last, I don’t think I can say quite all day, as is typical of creamy stick products, but I have never needed to reapply during a workday. I would love to see it on darker skin, as I do think it would work.
Conditioning Lip Color: This feels so wonderful on, and is probably the only lip color I’ve ever wanted to reapply just because it tastes good. It smells and tastes of vanilla with a little bit of fruitiness, and feels super creamy and nourishing, like a balm. It comes conveniently packaged in a skinny silver tube, and it’s not technically vegan as it does contain beeswax. The colors are limited to two, but against all odds they both work for me. The pink is a very sheer shimmery pink, not quite Bardot but approaching ice queen. I like to use RMS living luminizer on my lips, and the effect is a lot like that but with a touch of pink. The fig is aptly named, a nice deep shade with more pigment than the pink but barely any shimmer.
We’d love to hear from you if you’ve tried this limited color palette – are these shades really universal?
Check this out from Well+Good! A new clean beauty line getting all kinds of attention. With Mia Davis (formerly of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics) and Christy Coleman (clean makeup artist and bud) on board, we are more than intrigued. How about you? And what do you think of the Avon-like business model?
Beautycounter, which launched March 4, is the first beauty brand in a long time to eschew the traditional shopping method (read: Sephora) from the get-go. Instead, the company is grooming a new generation of chic, health-conscious Avon-ish ladies to sell its stylish, non-toxic products to their friends and family. (It’s a model used by Arbonne and even Neal’s Yard in the U.S.)
The brand is the brainchild of Los Angeles-based Gregg Renfrew (a New York expat), who became passionate about cleaner beauty products after watching a documentary and reading Stacy Malkan’s Not Just a Pretty Face.
“I became really focused on a personal level on the whole healthier, non-toxic movement. But I felt like I had to choose [between] chic products or products that were good for me,” she says. “Women shouldn’t have to compromise their health in the name of beauty.”
Beautycounter (which obviously has no counter, but does have a retail website) currently offers an essential skin-care line of seven products ($22–$42) plus three gorgeous facial oils ($175 for the set), and a body-care line that includes shampoo and conditioner ($18 and up). Makeup will debut in the fall, followed by an anti-aging collection by the end of the year.
“Our platform has been built on safety rather than natural or organic,” says Beautycounter CEO Gregg Renfrew.
SAFETY FIRST
Some brands go for organic seals. “Our platform has really been built on safety rather than natural or organic,” Renfrew says. To make the products as safe as possible, she hired Mia Davis, the former organizing director for the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.
The team created a “comprehensive ingredient screen” that doesn’t necessarily ban chemicals, but that evaluates each one before determining whether to allow it. All of the chemicals banned in the EU (most of which are used in the U.S.), for example, were immediately off the list.
“It was a painstaking process going ingredient by ingredient, not just in isolation but in combination. And it’s an imperfect world with lots of data gaps,” she says. “We’re just trying to focus on the safety angle and marry that to performance.”
On that front, Renfrew brought in Christy Coleman, a clean makeup artist who has worked with celebs like Emmy Rossum and Heidi Klum, to help vouch for how well the products actually worked.
We’ve been talking a lot about eczema this past week, and Janine here is no stranger to it. In this great routine, she talks about keeping it at bay in sunny Miami, her love of Yarok, and a surprising reaction she had to… argan oil! Enjoy!
Before the shower…
In the shower…
Outside the shower…
Finishing touches…
We believe too! Thanks for sharing.
