My Everyday Makeup Routine

Even though I love trying out new products and changing up my makeup from time to time, there are a few products and makeup looks I always come back to. I think I’ve found my perfect makeup routine so far, consisting of really good quality products which are working perfect for me, so I thought I should share my everyday makeup routine with you.

The first thing I do in the morning, after I cleansed, toned and moisturized my skin, is apply some primer. I do have very oily skin with enormous pores -dramatic, I know-, so I do need to apply a really good base in order to prevent getting oily during the day and to keep my makeup last as long as possible, as I don’t like reapplying. My current primer of choice is the Body Shop’s Tea Tree Pore Minimizer. I only need to use the tiniest amount of product, as a little really goes a long way. I really like the consistency of this product, as it leaves my skin velvety smooth and mattified. I don’t really see a significant difference in the size of my pores, but my makeup goes on a lot smoother and my skin doesn’t really get oily when I apply this under my foundation.

My foundation and concealer of choice have been featured on the blog before. I dabble in and out of foundations and concealers; I’m not really one to constantly repurchase a product when I run out of it, because I like to try new products with different formulas from time to time. This, however, is my third bottle of the Estée Lauder Double Wear Light foundation and my second one of the Double Wear concealer. I find myself always coming back to the Double Wear range, as it really is quite amazing. I don’t like the normal Double Wear foundation, as it smells and feels a little bit like putting paint on your face, but the light formula is absolutely perfect for me. Whilst the coverage isn’t as high as the original Double Wear, I find it really buildable. It doesn’t really have a scent and is much more blendable and easier to work with. The Double Wear concealer is by far my favorite concealer ever; it has high coverage, stays all day, it dries up matte and you only need the tiniest amount. My only problem with these products is that even the lightest shades are a tiny bit too dark for me, so I really need to make sure to blend it all the way down my neck.

I first apply my foundation, using my fingers to apply it evenly all over my skin. The warmth of my fingers makes the product really melt into the skin. I use pressing and rolling movements with my fingers to distribute the product evenly over my skin, then use my Real Techniques Buffing Brush to make sure everything is blended well. I use the same technique with the concealer.

After I applied my foundation, I do my brows. I don’t apply powder immediately after putting on my base, because I want to give my foundation and concealer some time to dry. For my brows, I use the Benefit Brow Zings kit in the shade light. I only use the powder- I do like the wax, but I find that it makes my eyebrows look a little bit too dark. I’m a blond, so black eyebrows really aren’t a good look! I use the Real Techniques eyebrow brush and apply the product using light, feathery strokes.

After that, I set my makeup using the Clinique Blended Face powder. I prefer loose powders over pressed ones. They’re messy, but they mattify my skin a little bit more and provide a tiny bit more coverage. I just use a random fluffy powder brush and apply the powder with pressing motions, to avoid my foundation from slipping around. I also apply this on my eyes- I don’t own an eyeshadow primer at the moment, and I find that a little bit of powder on the eyelids does the trick just as well.

Moving on to eyes- I change up my eyeshadow nearly every day, but I’ve found an eyeshadow combination which I’m really loving at the moment. As a base, I apply the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in On and On Bronze. This is such an amazing product- it’s super easy to apply and the shade is absolutely gorgeous. I apply this on the entire eyelid using my ring finger to blend it out. After that, I apply a little bit of MAC Sable eyeshadow in the crease, using my MAC 244 blending brush. The combination of these two is so so gorgeous; they really complement each other, and it’s such a quick and easy look as well.

For mascara, I’ve gone back to my trusty Estéé Lauder Sumptuous Extreme mascara- an old favourite of mine. This is literally one of the best mascaras I’ve ever come across, as it’s volumizing, lengthening and separating, all in one. I usually apply two coats- I first coat the roots of the lashes for volume, then put on another coat just on the lengths to make them look as long as possible.

For bronzer, I’ve been loving the Body Shop Honey Bronzer in the lightest shade. This is a really subtle bronzer, which doesn’t look muddy nor orange.

My lip product of choice varies every day, but at the moment I’ve been absolutely adoring the NYX lip gloss in the shade ‘Beige’. It’s just the perfect ‘my lips but better’ shade, and it’s so easy to just throw on, as I don’t like to spend a lot of time on my lips. It does have a pretty strange scent though- it smells like marzipan, which I don’t really like, but you get used to it. It also feels a little bit tingly when you apply it at first, I don’t know if it’s because it has lip plumping properties, but it certainly feels like it!

So that’s my everyday makeup routine. Quick and easy, but foolproof. Most of the products I use are a little bit more expensive, but when it comes to makeup, I definitely prefer quality over quantity. Because my skin is quite acne prone and oily, it’s really hard to find great drugstore products. I don’t really own a lot of makeup, but I do use everything I own, so that’s what counts, right?

What’s your everyday makeup routine? Have you tried some of these products?

Easter Day!

Now that the Easter weekend is well and truly over, I thought I'd share some pictures I took on Sunday.  My family has always celebrated Easter and when we were younger, we used to get some presents- it always felt like a second Christmas to me and my little brother, but in Spring! My mum always makes sure to make it a special day, so this Easter was no different.
We invited some family members and my mum made the hugest, most delicious brunch ever- complete with champagne and all! There was so much to choose from; bacon, pastries, chocolate, yoghurt, lots of little sandwiches, eggs, cheese, cake, donuts (check out the cool little donut man!) and even more! It's safe to say I ate until my little heart was content, and didn't get hungry until the evening. Everyone ate lots and we talked until the afternoon. My little cousins got some toys, including this beautiful pink My Little Pony, which I wish was mine! My little brother and me also got a few tiny presents and lots of chocolate. I got Divergent, which I was so excited about- I read 125 pages in about two hours. Call me crazy. I also got this delicious, huge Easter egg. We also did a little Easter egg hunt for my cousins, before the brunch and it was so much fun.
When everyone was gone, I decided to take a walk with my dog because the weather was absolutely gorgeous. The sun was beaming and everything seemed so much greener and brighter. I love nature, I really do. When I got home, I decided to go sit in the garden for a bit with a glass of green tea and a huge bowl of fruit to read Divergent.
We also went out for dinner that night (I forgot to photograph that oops, bad blogger!) and I had the best chicken salad I ever had.

I had an amazing Easter. This post might seem a little bit overenthousiastic haha, but I really love those little holidays where you get to spend time with your family. It really makes me appreciate life that bit more. What have you been up to this Easter?

I'm Back!

Follow me on Instagram: @charlhxo

Super original title, but yes, I'm back! I haven't blogged since last summer and have to admit I really didn't feel like blogging anymore. I grew really tired of the whole blogging community and just didn't feel like doing it anymore. I started a new course at uni, which has been taking up a lot if my time. I've been really loving the course though, and I'm so happy I decided to do this! I've also been working, so you can imagine how busy I've been. Nevertheless, my love of makeup didn't fade away and I've been experimenting a lot.
I have a feeling this post is going to be all over the place, since there are so many thoughts in my head that I'm trying to write down. Over the past couple of months I kinda stopped reading (beauty) blogs en watching beauty related YouTube videos. I don't know why, but I think it was just a phase. I really think that you sometimes need to take a break from something you've been obsessing over for such a long time, and I definitely think it has helped me a lot. I feel more refreshed, and because I stopped blogging for such a long time, I now really can't wait to start again! I missed having a creative outlet.
As you can see in the little Instagram collage above, I got myself a Nintendo 3DS and I've been obsessing over it so much. I got the limited edition Animal Crossing one and also got Pokémon Y for Christmas, and I've basically played those games non-stop during my Christmas break. I think that's also why I kinda grew tired of beauty; I discovered the online gaming community and kinda converted to watching Let's Play's on YouTube. This probably sounds really lame haha, but I've always been a 'gamer' (I hate calling myself that, I don't know why!) and I enjoy it very much.
I've also been studying and doing uni projects non-stop. I've passed all of my exams so far (even Statistics!!) and I'm sooooo happy because of that. I guess you can say that I was really insecure about myself because I quit my uni course last year and I thought I just wasn't cut out for uni. Goes to show that when you really enjoy something and you work really really hard you can achieve anything you want! (It's pretty ironic that I'm procrastinating uni work while writing this... haha). Since the school year is coming to an end and summer is coming up, I don't have that much work to do for uni anymore and I have a lot of days off, so I now have more time to start blogging again!
I've also been trying to eat healthier and I've been really loving oatmeal with almond milk, bananas and cinnamon for breakfast. I also started to choose healthier snacks and I'm trying to stop having late-night binges- well, they're not really binges, but I always crave chocolate at night and can't restrain myself, which is not really healthy! I've also started to work out again and I'm feeling so much better for it.
So I guess that's all for now. I'm sorry this post was all over the place and not very interesting, but I'm really excited to start blogging again! I really need a creative outlet since my uni course is quite 'science-y' and not very creative. This blog isn't going to be all about beauty though, I also want to make it a little bit more personal. I think the biggest reason I stopped blogging was because I found it quite weird, and quite frankly a little bit embarrassing that people I know in real life read my blog. I don't know why but I still think most people think it's a pretty weird thing to do! One thing I'm working on is improving my self-confidence and not comparing myself to others, so I just thought I'd start this little blog up again. I like it, so why do I have to care about what other people think? I even un-privated (not quite sure if that's how you say it, but bear in mind that English isn't my first language!) my oldest blog posts because I really liked them and don't know why I put them on private.
Thank you so much for reading this post! I love and appreciate every single one of my readers. Hope you're all having a great day- I'm going to continue to do some uni stuff and then go out for a walk, since the weather is absolutely glorious today. What are you going to do today?

Holiday Haulin'

I’m back, I’m back! Bet you’ve missed me when I was on a sunbed drinking cocktails and reading countless magazines in Mallorca- I kid, I kid. But I’m back after twelve days in the sun, and it feels like I’ve never even left my quiet, little city. I’m not that happy to be home because I’ve had the most amazing time on holiday and even got a tan, but I missed my bed and the comfort of my own home so it feels kind of ‘good’ to be home.

I was planning on buying quite a lot of stuff whilst being on the beautiful Balearic island, but I ended up not buying that much which my bank balance was obviously quite happy about. I thought I’d show you anyway, since I am really happy with the bits I did buy!

Firstly, I bought an item I was lusting after for absolute ages- a Bourjois Colour Boost crayon, in the colour ‘Orange Punch’. Since most drugstore makeup brands are quite a bit cheaper in Spain then they are in Belgium I was planning on picking up lots more, but when shopping for makeup I always get so overwhelmed I never really know what to buy. I know, I’m such a great beauty blogger! I wore this almost every evening of my holiday and I love it so, so much. It’s quite sheer but the clour is really buildable and feels really moisturising on the lips, and it lasts quite a long time as well! So far it’s a winner.

I also picked up two Clarins products I’ve been eyeing up for a while, and, to be honest I was actually forced a little to buy because you got a free makeup bag containing two sample if you bought two Clarins products! So I picked up the Lotus Face Oil and the Beauty Flash Balm, two quite hyped up products. I only tried these a few times and so far I’ve been absolutely loving both; the Lotus Face Oil smells amazing and seems to do wonders for my oily skin, and the Beauty Flash Balm feels so fresh on the skin and makes every base you apply after look gorgeous.

We went to Palma for a daytrip and I just had to visit the Kiko store. I’ve never actually tried something by Kiko before but heard that their products are great value for money, especially their eyeshadows, so I bought three; two of their Longlasting Stick Eyeshadows and one Water Eyeshadow. I bought their eyeshadow sticks in the colours 06, a beautiful shimmery chocolate brown, and 07, the most gorgeous golden colour which makes an amazing inner corner highlight. I picked up the water eyeshadow in the shade 200 which is the most amazing gold shimmer with an incredible pigmentation and the most amazing glitter ever- if you’re a fan of subtle, I fear this isn’t so much for you. After picking these up I’m actually tempted to play a little with eyeshadows, which is unheard for me so I’ll keep you updated!

I also picked up their Dazzling Highlighter in 02 – Gleaming Apricot. I actually only own one single highlighter (MAC Lightscapade, I’m looking at you), so I thought it was time to expand my collection a little bit. Their Dazzling Highlighters come in a handy stick which you can roll up and sweep across your cheekbones, your browbone, decolletage or anywhere else you’d like. They come in two colours, a shimmery white one or a more subtle apricot one, which is the one I picked up. I’ve been wearing it every day since I got it since it’s so subtle but also makes your cheekbones look amazing and really defined. It’s really creamy and easy to blend in with your fingers, and also smells amaaaaazing!

So that’s all I picked up beauty-wise in Mallorca. I also bought a little leather satchel bag at a market in Son Servera and a beautiful butterfly ring in the most precious little hand-made jewellery store in Cala Bona, which is the little village we stayed in located at the west coast of Mallorca.

I’m planning on doing a holiday essentials post soon, including everything I used every single day on my holiday and some tips for travelling light RE: makeup and skincare. I also might do a little holiday diary, sop lease let me know in the comments if you would like to see that!

Pamper Nights and Packing

 So as you may or may not know, I’m leaving on holiday to Mallorca this Tuesday/Wednesday night. I’m equally excited and terrified. I can’t wait until we’re there and the relaxing can begin, but I’m so so scared of flying and airplanes I literally can’t sleep. I’m always so scard something will go wrong, and even though I know that planes are the safest way of transport etc. etc. I still can’t help but think: ‘but what if something goes wrong?’ and then start panicking. I know, I’m a little scaredy cat- it’s no fun. We leave the house Wednesday night at 3am so me and my mum (who is even more scared than me- one time she passed out in the terminal…) probably won’t get any sleep at all, but that’s okay. I really, really hope everything will be okay. I’m probably making more of a big deal out of it than a normal person would, but if you’re a really, really anxious person like I am, you’ll probably understand where I’m coming from. Typing this has made me feel a little bit better about it though! I’m also really excited about duty free!

So the packing has officially begun and I’m trying not to take too much products and clothes with me. I’m not taking that much makeup with me since I only wear it at night only, but skincare and clothes are a whole ‘nother story. I’ll probably end up taking all of my skincare products with me, and I’m not one for decanting products since I’m scared I’ll run out of them whilst being in Mallorca (we’re going for 12 days!). My mum, my little brother and me went last-minute holiday shopping yesterday and we’ve now got everything we need. The only thing that’s still missing is a huge supply of magazines, since all I do on holiday is read, but we’ll probably be buying them on Tuesday. I’m also taking quite a few books with me. I’m planning on finishing The Perks of Being a Wallflower, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and maybe even One Day. No to find a way to carry all of these books with me…

Tonight, me and my family are going out for dinner and a stroll around the neighbourhood, and then I’ll be having a full-blown pamper session in the evening- triple threat face mask and all, the works. I’m already looking forward to it since Sunday evenings are the perfect occasion for me to just relax for a little bit and treat myself to a little at-home facial and body treatment!

I’ve been absolutely loving the Chloe Rose Edition perfume lately. I got this a couple of months ago; it had lots of discounts and I sprayed it on my wrists to try it, then walked away and continued shopping since I wasn’t planning on buying a perfume that day. A couple of hours later I went back and got it anyway- it smelt that good and with that much of a discount, I just couldn’t leave it there! It’s just so so gorgeous and I find myself spraying this on about five times a day because it’s just that good. It seems to last really long too, which is always a plus!

So I haven’t really been up to a lot this week. I watched The Blair Witch Project for the first time ever today since I was that bored and it has left me scared for life. I know, I’m such a loser! I’m really not one for horror films so I don’t know what came over me when I decided to watch it, but I did anyways and now I’m just really scared, haha. I can’t stand scary things and I just don’t understand people who do only watch horror movies! I swear I used to like them, but since watching a certain movie a couple of years ago I just can’t bring myself to watch them anymore. Well, until today that was, haha.

So this week will consist out of packing a little bit more and then relaxing in Mallorca! I can’t contain my excitement anymore and I really hope the food and drinks will be good. We booked all inclusive, so I’m definitely going to take advantage of that! Have you ever been to Mallorca? Anything we should definitely go and see there?

No-Foundation Makeup

Wearing makeup when it’s 30 + degrees outside is absolutely horrible, as I think most girls will agree. Especially when you’re wearing foundation: it just melts off your face and clogs your pores, resulting in breakouts and a feeling disgusting. That’s why I’ve been doing something I never would have even thought of doing a couple of months ago; I haven’t been wearing foundations. I know. Shock horror.

My skin has actually been looking quite nice and clear lately, so I’ve been a little bit lazy with my makeup which resulted really, really, really, really minimal makeup. Really.

So in order to look a little bit more human the next morning I’ve been using the Clarins Liquid Bronze Self Tanning facial self-tanner. Now I’m not usually one for fake tanning (I’ve never even tried a self tanner before, only those gradual ones), but soaking up the sun and getting some vitamin D has resulted in a nice sunkissed glow on my body. My face, however, is as pale as ever because I’ve been applying SPF constantly, so it needs a little bit of a glow in order to make me look more alive. I really do find that my skin looks a lot healthier the day afte rand needs a lot less concealing. Just put a little bit on a cotton wool pat and wipe it over your face after you’ve completed your skincare routine, and done. A full review is in the works.

After waking up looking like a bronze goddess (just kidding, just kidding) and cleansing and toning my skin to make me feel a little bit more awake, I’ve been applying the Origins Ginzing moisturiser. Now everyone seems to be loving this and it surely didn’t disappoint. It makes my skin look even and radiant and gives just the right amount of moisture my skin needs. My skin doesn’t get oily throughout the day but also doesn’t feel dry after application, and the scent is just absolutely delicious and makes me want to eat it. A winner, yes.

So the next step in this little routine is a little bit of cheating, because on days where I do feel a little bit insecure about my skin and want to cover up some things, I use the Laura Mercier Oil-Free Tinted Moisturiser. This is some amazing stuff and I would happily use this every day, for the rest of my life. Check my full review out here.

Now I like to define my eyebrows a little bit when I’m not wearing that much makeup, just because they kind of frame my face and I don’t really feel like ‘me’ when I don’t have my eyebrows on (this just sounded like I don’t have any eyebrows- trust me, I do). For this, I use my beloved Catrice Brow Definer in Date With Ash-ton, and this is just the perfect eyebrow shade for me. It also has a little spoolie which really comes in handy as you can quickly brush and tame your brows, and after doing this I feel like I look so much more human.

For eyes, I’ve only been using my beloved L’Oréal Telescopic mascara. I originally wanted to buy the waterproof version but I couldn’t find it literally anywhere, so I settled with the normal one which I think is just as good. I do believe that they’re discontinuing this however, which is such a shame as it’s probably my favourite mascara EVER- it gives perfect length and definition and you can make it either look really natural or really voluminous-, sop lease feel free tos end any other mascara recommendations my way. You’re welcome.

So last but certainly not least I’ve been applying a slick of lipbalm. Now I’ve ran out of my favourite lipbalm ever, the ever-so-hyped-up Nuxe Rêve de Miel, but I found this Cocoa Butter Natural Lipbalm in one of those natural/organic shops in town. I don’t know what brand this is, but it smells and tastes amazing- like a combination of coconut (well obiously) and chocolate. At first I wasn’t really that sure about the scent and taste of this, but it has sure grown on me and know I really, really like it. It moisturises my lips SO well and makes them look plump and hydrated. It’s not matte like the Nuxe one is, but I do like the glossy finish it gives because it adds a little bit extra to your non-makeup makeup look.

So I think I’ve finally got this minimal makeup thing down to a T. What are your minimal makeup essentials? Do you wear foundation in this weather?

Sunglasses and SPF

As soon as the sun kicks in, my obsession with protecting my face from the harmful rays does too. I’m that girl who frantically carries a tube of SPF with her everywhere she goes and make sure she reapplies every two hours- at least. Now on ‘normal’, not-sunny days, I don’t usually wear an SPF because I’m inside most of the time anyway and I don’t want to smear SPF all over my full face of makeup- ew. But as soon as it gets seriously sunny outside and I’m planning on spending my day out, out comes the SPF- and the sunglasses…

My favourite SPF ever (dare I say that?!) is the Dior Bronze SPF 50 Beautifying Protective Suncare, a facial SPF I bought for my holiday last year and have repurchased for when I’m going to Mallorca for 12 days this Wednesday. It has lasted me through the entire holiday, even though I applied it every two hours every single day, and I still have lots left. It smells AMAZING and really summery, but that might be a problem for sensitive skinned gals because it’s scented a lot. It’s quite thick but really easy to apply and blend into the skin. It doesn’t leave a white residue and it really, really protects your skin against the sun; on the last day of my previous holiday I decided to not reapply it in the afternoon in an attempt to tan my face a little bit, and I got burned. A lot. I absolutely love this product and I couldn’t recommend it enough; it hasn’t broken me out and even though it’s quite heavy, it’s really moisturizing so your face doesn’t get dried out by the sun.

Another SPF is the Shiseido Expert Sun Aging Protection Cream SPF 50+. This one’s waterproof and has an anti-aging complex, penetrating the skin cells to reassure optimal sun protection. Now I haven’t used this as much as the Dior one so I can’t really say much about this yet until after my holiday, but the scent of this is very subtle and it sinks into my skin really easily, which is nice as it doesn’t make me look like a greaseball- which the Dior sometimes does. This does, however, leave a really white ‘veil’ over my skin, and even though the sales person told me Shiseido had changed the formula of this so it wouldn’t look as white on the skin, I still feel like it does.

Now another summer obsession of mine are sunglasses. I can’t live without them and wear them all year round, since my eyes are really sensitive and can get red and watery very easily. I’m never seen without sunglasses in the summer; I even wear them in the pool. Last year’s sunglasses were a pair from H&M that broke a couple of days after the holidays. I don’t particularly like H&M sunglasses as I find the designs to be a little bit dodgy but they’re cheap as chips so you can’t really complain. Yesterday, I came across these three beauties in a local drugstore, and yes, I bought them all. Three pairs of sunglasses. But they were only €9 each, so who am I to complain?

One round pair and two cat-eye pairs, one black and white and one brown. I couldn’t really decide so I went for all three. They all have an UV-filter and feel like they’re quite good quality, which is always good! Round and cateye sunglasses are my absolute favourite since they’re quite unique and can be a very nice accessory to your summer outfit. But even though I’m in love with all three of these, I can’t wait until I can call a pair of Ray Ban Erika’s mine… A girl can dream, right?

What are your favourite SPF’s? Are you also sunglasses obsessed?