Clinique has been treating us the past few months with loads of delicious new releases of very high quality (the intense chubbies for lips, the chubbies for eyes, the divine CC cream, ..) And now they’re back again with something completely new for them! Now also competing with most of the other mid range brands, Clinique has made their own nail polish, called A Different Nail Enamel For Sensitive Skins. But this one is a bit different than others, because it’s made for sensitive skin. Now why sensitive skin? Shouldn’t that be sensitive nails? Well, Clinique claims that we touch our eyes more than 200 times a day (make that 500 times for me, I always get things stuck in my eye) and some nail polishes can trigger allergic reactions when you do. Theirs obviously doesn’t. 

Although the brush is not revolutionary (I forgot to take a picture of it, sorry), it does an okay job. It’s not wide, but not overly thin either. It applies pretty precisely and is easy enough to work with. The formula of this one called “Summer In The City” is quite pigmented: one coat could absolutely be enough, but I had some time and went for two. It’s not streaky at all, applies smoothly evenly and the biggest wonder of this one is that it dries so amazingly fast! I’ve heard that some people have this polish last 7 days without chipping, but sadly again my nails are much too brittle.. As with almost all other nail polish brands, I had chips and tipwear on the second day already. I also gave my feet a pedicure with this polish, and it has been going strong for two weeks now. 

The formula isn’t spiked with all sorts of nasties and is 5-free, which means it does not contain formaldehyde, DBP, Camphor, Formaldehyde Resin or Toluene. This isn’t to be found anywhere on the press release or on their website, I just found out through some bloggers. I’m not sure why, since it’s such a strong selling point! You’re probably wondering what on earth 5-free is now.. It’s basically the same as 3-free, but doesn’t contain any formaldehyde Resin (similar to formaldehyde, known skin allergen) or Camphor (toxic through inhalation) either. This is a nice addition, but I think 3-free is already a long way and I wouldn’t go out of my way to obtain 5-free, for now. Other 5-free brands are Zoya & Deborah Lippmann. It’s nice to see Clinique is also going the extra mile with their nail polishes!

So are all my comments super positive now? Well, concerning the nail polish, the color range and the formula: yes. There’s nothing negative to say. There’s just one thing.. One tiny little thing that a packaging nut like me notices.. The bottle isn’t pretty at all. 

Clinique’s nail polishes are available in stores already and come in 12 permanent shades & 4 online exclusive shades at the moment. They retail for €16.50 suggested retail price, which is slightly higher than mid range brands like OPI or Models Own, but still quite a lot cheaper than luxury brands such as Deborah Lippmann, Dior, Chanel and so on. As always, don’t forget to deduct member card discounts. I’m so excited to see which other shades are coming out, and I’m quite curious to see whether Clinique would try to tackle fashion nail polishes with glitters and textures. And I’m just very excited to see whatever else Clinique is going to release in 2013, because they’re building a pretty strong “hotness in beauty land” case this year..

Two weeks ago I discovered the Sweet Recipe collection by Etude House, an Asian cosmetics brand that always does the cutest packaging you can think of. The Sweet Recipe collection is inspired by all sorts of sweet things: chocolate bars, cupcakes, candies, .. I couldn’t resist and bought the ice cream cone shaped nail varnish in Mintchoco Chip. Because how could I not buy this cutie?

I had no other option but to buy these on Ebay, so I wasn’t sure if or when they’d arrive. To my surprise, shipping to just a little longer than a week and the varnish arrived very well packaged with even an extra skin care sample! You can visit the seller here. I paid $6.99 for this one, which is just a little bit more expensive than they should be. But since this one was already kind of hard to get hold of, I gladly paid the extra two dollars. Also, shipping is usually free with these kind of Ebay sellers! Onto the polish now: the first layer was quite streaky, so you’ll surely need a second one. The second layer was wearable, but I had the best effect with three coats (as pictured). I love how these look and they really pop out! My nails are mostly quite brittle, so I can’t comment on how long they wear. And I just got this yesterday, but I really wanted to show it off already! The glitter details in the polish are really stunning and make for such an interesting effect! And I can’t help it.. But I really find these Etude House varnishes to look so much like Illamasqua’s Imperfection collection, but at just a fraction of the price. And with way cuter packaging, right? :)

I showed you the new glosses by Guerlain beginning this month, so I still owe you their new nail La Laque Couleur polishes! This permanent line (finally!) is in stores as of today and all of the polishes are pairable with the Guerlain lipsticks & lipglosses that carry the same name. How cute is that? Ten shades are being launched today, including a protective base coat and a gel top coat (similar to the one by Dior). I have the clear protective base coat, 463 La Petite Robe Noire and 168 L’Heure Bleue to show you. 

The packaging is very pretty and fancy with no engraving on the bottle itself, but the brand’s name in gold lettering on the cap and an engraved G on the twister cap. I’m very fond of nail polishes with a separate cap & twister cap, I like working with a smaller round cap on the end of the brush applicator when painting my nails. Each polish contains 10ml of product.

The brush is just divine: it’s wide and flat and perfect to work with. Might be a bit challenging on tiny pinky nails, but my overall experience is that this lays a thin coat on each nail in just two or three strokes. OPI for example has much thinner brushes.. The protective base coat in the picture is designed to protect and strengthen your nails. I have been using it religiously the last month when painting my nails & it does protect the nails really well: there’s no discoloration going on when I apply polishes that tend to do that. It also dries really fast, which is a huge plus. My nails are quite brittle as they are and I really need to do another nail strengthening supplement cure, so I can’t comment on the fortifying feature. 

This beautiful deep red color is named 168 L’Heure Bleue. It’s super sophisticated and highly glossy, and turns opaque in two coats. 

463 La Petite Robe Noire is a frosted light pinkish color. Sadly, it applies a bit stripey. It gets better with the second coat, but the effect doesn’t fade completely.. I’m not fond of frosted light colored nail polishes, but other than that the formula is again of great quality and the polish is completely opaque in just two coats. 

These nail polishes retail in Belgium for €24.45 suggested retail price and are permanently available as of today. These should already be out in the US for $23 and in the UK for £18. 

Givenchy this Spring.. is bold, matte and very colorful! Croisière 2013 is an addition to the regular Croisière collection: the raved about poudre Bonne Minne is still there, but for this Spring there are some extras to be found in the line. There’s a limited edition purple version of the Noir Couture mascara, which comes with the same beautiful luxurious packaging as always but this time it’s white instead of black. Next to that, there are also two limited edition lipsticks and two limited edition nail varnishes in the colors coral & fuchsia. Matchy matchy is super in these days; so if you wanted to you could totally pair your lipstick to your nails with these. 

This coral lipstick ‘Le Rouge Crosière Coral 310’ is super bright and very pigmented. The texture is quite creamy and the finish almost matte like we’re used to from Le Rouge Givenchy, although it doesn’t feel overly drying. The bright coral color does tend to accentuate my mostly overly dry and chapped lips, so this color is best suited for lips in quite the good condition (I have no such issues with the darker colors from the same line).. Such a pity! The packaging has been adjusted from the rock ‘n roll black chic to a sophisticated white, but still keeping the stud details so the rock does not go lost. My boyfriend normally does not comment all too much on my lipstick endeavors as he’s not fond of it, but he did spontaneously said that this one was quite alright, hooray! I’m waiting for some sun and healed lips to get some good use out of this bright color. 

The purple nail varnish ‘Le Vernis Givenchy Croisière Purple’ is a highly glossy purple color that is amazingly well pigmented and would be almost alright in just one layer.. So opt for two very thin layers for this one. The color is captivating; I’ve worn it quite a few times as it’s very dynamic and gives my look an extra edge. It’s super bright, but not tacky. The coral version of this varnish has a matte finish, which looks quite interesting.

I also got the Givenchy Reflet Precieux Satiny Body Enhancer - a new and also limited edition addition to the line - but I haven’t had the opportunity to test it thoroughly yet. So stay tuned for an extra post on that one in a couple of weeks, after the sun has hopefully returned to our small country so I can take some good pictures of the effect.

The nail varnishes from the Croisière collection sell for €21 & the lipsticks go for €34.50. The line is already out here and is sold exclusively in Ici Paris XL in Belgium. Best selling point for me? The gorgeous white leather packaging. I said it before & I’ll say it again: I’m such a sucker for beautiful packaging.

I’m quite the neutrals girl, you’ll rarely see me sport a colorful eye look or super bright lipsticks. But I really want to break that habit, especially now the gorgeous Spring collections are out and Summer is nearing.. Colorful evening looks I can do; I like bold and heavy and I wear it well. But colorful daily looks? I wasn’t too sure. I wanted to go for it with Estée Lauder’s Pretty Naughty palette which I’ve already shown you here (with a bold look, what else did you expect?), so think baby blues and bright purples. Are you afraid yet? Yes, so was I..

So when you don’t really know what you’re going to do with it yourself.. You ask a professional make-up artist. I asked Gigi Bowmer - Estée Lauder’s leading make-up artist for the Benelux - how to create a nice daily look with the palette. She was so kind to send me three types of looks to work with; there’s really a lot of versatility in this palette indeed. So we’re going for a subtle blue/purple look here, using the Double Wear eyeliner in black (Gigi suggested graphite, but I don’t have that shade) and the purple and baby blue eyeshadow from the Pretty Naughty palette.

Apply a black (or graphite) kohl eye pencil on the upper lids near the lashes and smudge it out slightly. Then, mix the purple & blue eyeshadow together and apply on top of the smudged out liner. Apply mascara generously on the top lashes. 

Even though baby blue can be quite frightening, this look is very soft and indeed still wearable for daytime. Gigi totally succeeded! Now I wouldn’t really go for bright lips when sporting this; you’ll need to tone the rest of your look down to keep it wearable. I’m not sure how often I’ll opt for this kind of look.. I think I’ll have to gradually get used to idea of wearing purples and blues during daytime, even though this look totally proved it’s not tacky and quite pretty instead! Let’s just say the brown and sparkly black shades of the palette will probably hit pan a bit sooner (◕‿-)

So when you can’t do bright lips.. You just go for bright nails! I still owed you this gorgeous nail polish from the Heavy Petals spring lacquer collection, which would be perfect to wear with the soft blue daily look we just created. Meet the pale pink shade called ‘Narcissist’. The application went very smooth (love the Estée Lauder brush) and the polish is opaque in just two coats. I absolutely love Estée Lauder’s lacquer formula as it’s very long lasting and dries almost instantly. The pale barbie pink is perfect for Spring, if Spring would ever arrive in Belgium that is.. 

The Estée Lauder Pretty Naughty collection & the Heavy Petals nail lacquer collection are both limited edition and have been in stores since mid February. 

Are you down with blues and purples for daytime looks? Let me know! I’m quite curious. 

I have been raving about Estée Lauder’s new collection(s) and can’t wait to head out and buy one of those shadow paints. I haven’t got a lot of time to write today, so let me just show you this gorgeous nail polish from the Pretty Naughty collection that I have been wearing a lot since I got it! I’m wearing it today too, it’s so versatile and looks great with just about any look. It’s a dark shade of purple and turns grey-ish in some lights. One coat can be done, but two coats will be super opaque and give the best color. This is unlike any purple you own - I haven’t really seen anything like it and that’s probably why I’ve been really loving this one and why I’ve already received some compliments on my nails when wearing it. 

Insatiable is a limited edition nail varnish and is available in the usual Estée Lauder retail points for a little less than €22 suggested retail price. If one product of the Pretty Naughty collection is bound to sell out the fastest, it’s probably this varnish. Love it!

Givenchy is turning super bold these days featuring leather packaging with stud details. I really love the new look as I love anything rock chic. Givenchy Le Rouge & Le Vernis have been out since end of January, but don’t fear: these have been added to the permanent line! 

What’s great about these two lines is that some colors are both featured in a lipstick & a nail polish; such as Carmin Escarpin which is a gorgeous warm & classy red. Let’s kick off with the nail polish!

The packaging of the nail polishes has changed - now there’s a whopping double the amount of product in the new bottles. I’m a huge fan of the new and easy bottles - I hope more brands will finally figure out how easy the smaller handles are to work with. The detail on them is great too - I love the Givenchy imprint on the top. 

And not only the look has changed.. But the brush has too. It’s now wider, which ensures a way easier application. 

This here was just one coat; add one extra coat for a deeper look. Givenchy Le Vernis Carmin Escarpin is a beautiful warm red & looks quite sophisticated. It’s a bit more orange-y than Dior’s Marilyn, if you’d like to compare. 

The new Le Rouge lipsticks have a gorgeous leather product packaging with a stud detail. It’s the most beautiful lipstick I’ve ever seen - I’m not even kidding. The detail is again remarkably luxurious, notice the imprint in the lipstick itself and on top of the cap. 

As you can see in the swatch above Givenchy Le Rouge Carmin Escarpin is not highly glossy, but not super matte either. It’s not overly drying as other mattes tend to be & has a great color pay off. The texture is quite creamy and easy to apply. I think the color looks almost exactly as the nail polish, so it’s quite fun wearing both at the same time. Color coordinated nails and lips, anyone?

Overall there isn’t anything bad I can say about these two products; except for perhaps the price tag which is of course in the higher ranges because this is a luxury brand. The nail polish goes for €21 (you know how I’m a fan of luxury nail polishes as they’re the perfect budget designer treat that’ll last you a long time) and the lipsticks retail for €34.50. Available only at Ici Paris XL in Belgium. 

Some brands are just perfect for gifting: they’ve got a wide variety of items that’ll appeal to just about anyone.. Your mom, niece, aunt, brother, colleague, … Name it! Rituals is one of those brands. It’s a Dutch brand that now has shops or counters throughout most of Europe, so if you’re from outside the EU you should definitely check whether you’ll be near any stores and check the brand out. I started off buying Rituals only as gifts (moms love candles!), but ended up receiving loads of Rituals presents myself. And not unwillingly, I should add! By now I became one of the biggest fans of their scented candles & their fragrance sticks. They smell wonderful and aren’t too present in the room, but don’t go unnoticed as well. I’ll admit to having turned into a bit of a scented candles fan girl lately… Oops. Anyhow, let me talk you through the Rituals products I like the best, because it’d be madness featuring all of them.. 

Call me crazy but I convinced myself a while ago, while this kitchen set was on sale, that I absolutely needed it. Tired of that dirty bottle of Fairy (or Dreft, whatever you call it) being a pain for the eyes on the kitchen counter, I replaced it for this cute set. I know I should work on my color scheme here, but the truth is that there just isn’t any pink dish soap available yet.  And the smell of the Serenity line is so gorgeous! This set makes total sense too: after washing up, you should wash your hands and treat them with some caring lotion too. 

The scented sticks! I LOVE THESE! I think I first came across these five or so years ago at a friend’s place. She had the Anti Tobacco ones and it smelled just divine! Right now I’m switching between Under A Fig Tree & Jasmine Dream, but I don’t think there’s any scent I really dislike. Just turn the sticks around whenever you notice the scent not being present enough anymore. Lasts a long, long time. About four to five months I’d say, depending on how many times you freshen up the sticks.

The candles and the nail varnish. The candles are great gift material and burn up to 50 hours! Next one on my wishlist? The Hammam Secret one! I just love the Hammam range they have! The nail polish is great too and is actually great quality for being a brand that’s not really nail polish focussed. I don’t think I would’ve picked it up myself, but now that I’ve received one to try out I must say that I was wrong to assume that these polishes would be ordinary. The pretty orange/red color should still be on sale (it’s from the fall/winter collection) and contains small golden glitter for a subtle but still festive touch. And the best thing? It’s a one coater! Great for girls on the go, or impatient ones like me. I haven’t tried out their make-up yet, but I have high hopes now. 

And this here.. is hand heaven in a small tube. This was part of a Christmas gift from one of my BFF’s and I didn’t really know what to expect.. I’ve never used a hand scrub before (tell me, am I alien?), so this was a first. The scrub is a clear gel with scrubby grainy bits. After scrubbing and rinsing the excess product off, there’ll be a small layer of nourishing oil left on your hands. Needless to say, I’ve been absolutely loving using this scrub during the cold winter period.. It’s been making my hands quite coarse and dry, so it’s a great way to scrub the dead skin cells away and to nourish them at the same time. 

Whew! So those are my favorite Rituals products. I still need to invest in some of those Hammam products, but I’ll make sure I finish some of the products I’ve got laying around first (hooray for NY resolutions!). If you’ve got any favorites or must-try’s of this brand, do let me know!

Really sorry for barely posting the past week, but I’ve been so ill I didn’t even make it to work. And we all know I love work, so it means something. Also, I’ve been working on that new layout of mine. I’m such a perfection freak, I want it all to look amazing. I’m really loving my layout right now: it’s super simple & looks very sophisticated, but I’m missing something.. A sidebar. I’m usually quite handy with HTML, but for some reason I can’t understand Tumblr at all. Or at least this layout. If you could lend me a hand; do tell me. If not, I have a whole new layout (almost) ready that’ll just look.. different! 

Anyway, this post should be about something except for me being ill & the layout, so here you go. One of my favorite corners in our home office. My nail polish étagère! OPI is my favorite nail polish brand (and Chanel, but I only own two of those) so I decided I wanted to see these babies pop out when I enter our office. I know some of you’ll say how they will start to change color because of sunlight, but honestly I’d still much rather see them on a pretty étagère! How do you store your favorite polishes? 

Have you heard about Pronails yet? If you follow me on Twitter you’ll probably have read some tweets about how much I love this brand. I love how their polishes are almost all one-coaters & their nail art markers are divine to work with. So when they asked me to do translate some summer trends to my nails with their products, I couldn’t refuse. 

So, what’s to know about their summer collections before going on to the nail styles? Well, there are three summer collections: ‘London Is Blogging’, ‘Royal Picnic’ & ‘A Star Is Born’. Naturally, I’m loving the London-feel to these collections. I absolutely love wearing the colors on their own. As I mentioned these mostly just need one coat, which is perfect for a working girl with little patience like me. But I do like a bit of nail art from time to time, so I came up with some very quick styles for this summer using these nail polishes, krackle polishes & nail art markers. As this is going to be quite picture-heavy, please click through if you’re interested!

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