Spring sandal splurge!

Although it's still snowing in Norway, the Spring - and Summer fashion is all over the magazines and I am adding these Gucci sandals to my wish list of "must-haves".

These will look so amazing with tanned toes with french manicure! Awwww.... *day dreaming*

I used to only wear high heeled sandals for Summer, until I had a baby and started walking, walking, walking and walking with her in her pram. Seriously, I have no desire to ruin my back any time soon, so flip-flops are my favorite shoe-wear for Summer!

Last Summer I met my boss' wife and she had some flip-flops to die for! The strap had lots of pearls on them - and anyone who knows me know that I LOVE pearls!!! I started Google'ing for them right away, but could never find anything like it :(
I could have asked her where she got them, but I didn't think of it until later when I started obsessing about them...
I'm still trying to find sandals like that, so if anyone of you come across something like it, please let me know! :)

Celebrity makeup inspiration - Kate Beckinsale

I thought I'd post some inspirational makeup pictures (makeup, hair, diet...basically) of Kate Beckinsale. I think she is beyond gorgeous I hate her . Her makeup is pretty much the same on the red carpet: either a smoky eye or the bronzed glowy look, but always very natural. Her lipstick is usually nude or a very true to lip color lipstick that is very natural, but still brightens up the face.

Enjoy!














Do you have any celebrity makeup inspirations? Who are they?

Scott Barnes - About Face

Wayne (gossmakeupartist on You Tube) first introduced me to Scott Barnes when he wrote on his blog that Mr. Barnes was coming out with a makeup book called "About Face". When I heard that Scott Barnes is also Jennifer Lopez's makeup artist I knew I had to get my hands on that book.

This is the man responsible for creating J-Lo's glowy look!

I ordered the book from Amazon for $ 20,18 (I would gladly have paid twice that amount) and I finally got it, last week!!
(You can get it for $ 14. 61 now, which I can't even understand.... what!?)

What can I say, the book is pure eye-candy!! It's filled with the most amazing transformations of regular women, and it's so funny because they all get J-Lo'fied in their transformations (he can J-Lo'fy me any day!!).

This book will tell you, and show you exactly how to achieve that famous glow! I didn't even make it half way through the book before I had to run to the bathroom, remove all my makeup, and try the Scott Barnes method. Haha! I've read and looked through "About Face" every day since I got it and it's so inspirational!

This is not a how-to book for girls/women wanting to know how to apply makeup, in my opinion. It's not that basic. But if you know your way around with a brush and want to get some new ideas and inspiration - this is the book for you!

Seriously, GET IT!!!! I'll even make it easy for you and post a direct link to Amazon: ---> click!
(and no, I'm not paid to say this!)




















Do you have any makeup books? Which ones are your favorites?

More highlights!! updated

Updated with pictures in daylight as I promised - all though a few days too late..

(Never mind the baby hairs round my forehead.. Haha! As many of you know, you loose a LOT of hair after giving birth and now it's finally growing back!)












Thank you guys for all your sweet comments! It's really made embrace this color no matter how strange it stills seems to not have black hair anymore!
I have the best readers! ♥

Less than two months ago:



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I had another round of highlights done today and I have actual blond highlights! Not light brown, but blond!! Eeeeek! A colleague called me blondie today! Haha. I probably should have waited to post this after-picture until tomorrow so I can take some pictures in natural lights, but I was too excited to share with you! My hair is actually lighter than what it appears in these pictures.. can you believe it!?

Picture on the left is me yesterday and on the right, today:




















Pleeeease tell me, I'm pretty close to Jennifer now, right? Yes? Yes? :)


















You know me, so you know I'll add another couple of pictures tomorrow in natural light... lol So stay tuned ;)

Sigma travel brush set

Have and behold, I am actually blogging about one of the two things I swore I would never mention.. that is Sigma and Lush. I cannot begin so tell you how sick I am of those two names.. haha, and here I go! I promise I wont buy nor mention Lush again though.. (hope I didn't offend anyone....)

Before I ordered the Sigma travel brush set I tried Google'ing on it to read some blog reviews and see some actual photos, but wasn't able to find anything (I know there are several videos on You Tube, but I wanted to see it in a blog). That's why I thought I would do one myself!

[all pictures are clickable!]
When I opened the package, this is what I got!
I got a complimentary eyeshadow and an extra brush: a ss187 (which is a MAC 187 stipling brush dupe).

Whenever you buy something and get complimentary makeup with it, it's usually something sucky... either bad quality, bad color - or both. But this was neither. This eyeshadow is amazing in the quality and the color is exactly like Mac Satin Taupe - an eyeshadow I think everyone owns.
So, this I will use!!










Sigma has started selling makeup too and this is a part of that collection.

I love the little brush case/clutch you get with it! It's got a little pocket with a zipper where you can hold some makeup or more brushes if you want (like the 187 brush you get with this).

I'm going to say what everyone else have said: these brushes are amazing!! They are exact dupes of all the MAC brushes, so I am definitely going to get the professional full brush set (not yet though, because now I'm saving for a purse!).
Here are all the fabulous brushes you get and a MAC 224 brush for comparison in size (right picture).


I feel like I was the last person on Earth to get the Sigma brushes, but what brushes/brush set did you get (are going to get)? What brush is your favorite?

EOTD - everyday makeup

I did my makeup today and thought I'd take a picture of it as an eye of the day look. I haven't done one in ages! This is nothing advanced nor exciting, just an everyday makeup look that I wear to the office (one of them!).

Eyeshadows used are all MAC:
Brule all over the lid as a base color
Malt as the transition color applied on the orbital bone and a little bit above
Sable all over the lid but leaving out the inner third for a highlight color. I also applied this under the eye along the lashes.
Embark in the crease, mainly in the outer half
Carbon, slightly to darken the outer v.
Nylon as a highlight color in the inner third of the eye and tear duct. I also pulled in down and under a little.
Urban Decay 24/7 black eyeliner in "zero" along the lashes (over the lashes, not applied under)
Gosh liquid eyeliner pen (my favorite!) as a thin line on top lashes.
Estee Lauder lash primer
YSL faux cils mascara.

In these pictures it looks like I'm barely wearing any eyemakeup, but in real life - this is coming out as a lot of makeup. I think it's because the flash washes out some of the color in my face.. sorry. I will learn how to take better pictures!

Brush recommendation

Believe it or not, but this is not about Sigma brushes ;)

This is also a cheap and a totally genius brush that I have been using every day since I got it!
It's the Smokey-wide brush from Essence of Beauty.

It's a dual sided brush with a wide brush to apply color all over the lid and the other side, a pointed pencil brush to apply your crease color.
In comparison I've taken pictures with my all time favorite MAC 227 brush and 219.

For my daily quick makeup look, this is so handy and nice to have.
Actually, I love this brush so much that I'm going to get a couple more ♥
This is the only brush I have from Essence of Beauty, but I have to say it's made me want to look into a couple of more. Especially the dual-sided ones.

I got it from Ebay for $ 8.99 and it came with an extra free brush that you can throw away immediately. - Or keep as a weapon (that's how harsh the bristles were!)













Of course this isn't as soft as the MAC brushes, but it's pretty decent for the price. It's definitely worth trying out!

Chanel flap bag

One of my favorite past times is Google imaging on everything. Recently I have been looking at lots of picture of my soon ("soon" is relative) to own Chanel purse, because it doesn't seem so out of reach if I can only look at it... a lot!
That's when I discovered the Chanel Flapbag ! I knew it was there all along, because we've all seen Lauren Conrad wearing hers, looking amazing! - I just didn't know they came in a size called "jumbo"! I hate small purses on myself (except clutches) because I think they make me look fat, basically - and I can't fit my survival kit in it! lol Since I'm a tall and curvy woman I need a bigger one to look proportionate to my body as well. The jumbo size is quite big, but yet not as big as a tote. And I love the fact that it has a flap that I can close, something I've been missing.

So, I've changed my mind (again) and I'm saving up for this baby instead! I even created a savings-ticker in the side bar (hahaha!) so I can keep a track on how close I'm getting to buying this purse. As you can see, the purse it's not exactly anywhere in my reach YET! My goal is the same: to have this within 2010!

Facts:
The Chanel Flap Bag comes in three sizes:

Small – 9″ x 5.5″ x 2″ or in cm: 23 x 14 x 5 cm
Medium – 10″ x 6″ x 2.5″ or in cm: 25.5 x 15 x 6
Jumbo– 12″ x 8″ x 3″ or in cm: 30.5 x 20 x 8

Are any of you saving up for something this year?

Amanda Bynes with the jumbo Chanel Flap bag. This picture shows really well how big it is.