The beauty files
Well, since about every blogger already did a post on her beauty and make-up routine, here's mine! My daily routine consists of basic products that don't take too much work or time to use - I'd rather stay in bed for ten more minutes than standing in my bathroom applying a shitload of make-up! Anyway, these are some of my favourite products:
HAIR
I normally use Body Shop shampoo (and sometimes the Rituals shampoo pictured here) and conditioner from their Rainforest Volume line - I love the fact that it doesn't contain any parabens, silicons or sulphates, and it just smells really good! After washing my hair (lately I've been washing it the wrong way round: first conditioner and then shampoo, a tip I read somewhere and I find it makes my hair smoother!), I sometimes use a serum (from Hema) or some of my mums Schwarzkopf Osis+ 4-Play to give my hair some texture - or at least, I try to. And once or twice a year, I use henna to brighten my hair colour.
CLEANING & MOISTURIZING
I use Yves Rocher cleansing water when I'm at home, or Hema 2-phase eye make-up remover lotion and Garnier cleansing milk when I'm at my student room - forgot to take it home this week so it's not on the photo - to clean my face and remove my make-up. I find the Hema 2-phase lotion really good for removing waterproof mascara, no need to rub your eyes for ten minutes (which sometimes is the case with cheap make-up removers), perfect for lazy people like me.
In the morning I use a day cream from the Body Shop, I picked this one up a few days ago but I've used it every day since then - I'll probably get the full size version when I run out of this one!
This hand cream from the Body Shop is one of my favourites too: it sinks in really quickly (I hate having sticky hands), smells delicious and is really affordable (2,5 euros in the sales).
THE BASE
After applying my day cream, I use some under eye concealer to cover up dark circles (especially during exams...) and concealer to hide spots and redness. Sometimes I use some mousse foundation too, but usually I skip that and just apply some mineral powder (all from Hema - I swear they don't sponsor me! They just are one of the few brand that sells concealer, foundation etc. in a lighter shade that suits me).
I'm really lucky with my skin so I don't really need foundation, except for those long days (hello, exams) when my skin colour could use a boost.
After that, I use Maybelline the Colossal Volum' Express waterproof mascara (after curling my eyelashes of course). I NEVER leave the house without some mascara - without it I look like a sick person with no eyelashes. Seriously, fellow redheads or blondes will know what I'm talking about.
The tweezers don't need much explanation, do they? I usually shape my eyebrows a bit with my Catrice eye brow pencil (one of the fewer brands who sell lighter colours).
Most of the time this is my standard make-up look! When I have more time in the morning or just feel like doing something special, I choose to acentuate either the eyes or the lips.
EYES
In the eye department I often go for two looks: 1) apply some smudges kohl pencil (Catrice or Hema) in the outer corner of my eyelid if I want a more grungy vibe, or 2) use eyeliner (Essence pen or a no-brand liquid eyeliner, stolen borrowed from my mum), mostly cat eye. I really suck at applying eyeliner though, so this is more something for a dinner or night out when I have two hours to prepare instead of the 20 minutes during the week before class!
LIPS
No doubt my favourite part! I LOVE lipstick - the ones you see here are only a small part of my collection (I left most of them at my student room, stupid me) but these are my favourites at the moment: Catrice Ultimate Colour in Ginger & Fred, the first sort of nude lipstic that doesn't look like those white lip balms you wear when skiing. Next is Rimmel Colour Show Off in Red Fever, one of my first red lipsticks and still one of my favourites. My absolute favourite has to be MAC in Russian Red, although I don't wear it that much because it was quite expensive (yes, I said it. 17 euros for a lipstick is expensive for me!) and it's a very bright, true red.
The four lipsticks at the bottom are from Hema again (seriously, this is getting embarrassing...), all of them from the Longer Lasting line, and boy do the last! When I apply them in the morning, I still have to rub them off in the evening. They are very dry though, so I sometimes use a more shiny lipstick on top.
And that's about it! As you can see, I mostly go for budget products (like most students, I guess), but I always try to keep an eye on the ingredients, especially with skin care: you don't want to apply loads of bad chemicals on your face every day!
Any new products I should try?
PS: I forgot to photograph my perfume: I use Diesel Loverdose (and before that one Armani Idole) for everyday, Thierry Mugler Alien for special occasions and sometimes le Premier Parfum de Lolita Lempicka (a sample I got at the perfume store).
