Clinique Sonic Purifying Cleansing Brush

This Clinique Sonic Purifying Cleansing Brush is the BEST thing in the world! When I first heard about cleansing brushes about a year ago, I was enthusiastic yet a bit skeptical - I mean doesn't get the brush dirty from leftover makeup? Because that makes it pretty easy for bacteria to settle and to completely get loose, isn't it?! It took me a year to finally decide to have this system myself and, well, it absolutely has proven my skeptical thoughts wrong.

I've always been taking care of my skin a lot. Every morning and evening I use face products such as a cleanser, a toner, and a face cream. I also scrub my face once a week and use GlamGlow's Supermud up to two times a week (read more about this product here). As if that wasn't enough, since a couple of weeks this miracle of a cleansing brush from Clinique has been in my daily skincare routine, I use it both in the morning and evening.

The first thing I do when cleansing my face is, of course in the evening, getting rid of all the makeup on my face. Then I wet my face and dry it with a clean towel. Now the fun part starts! I wet my face (again) and the brush with water, followed by applying cleanser (could be any of your choice) on the brush. After pushing the start-button I roll the brush, making round circles, on my face for one minute, making sure I reach all areas. Then I rinse my face and the brush with water (water is enough to cleans the brush, you don't have to use any antibacterial soap). I finish my routine with some toner and face cream which I apply on a slightly wet face for a better result. Every single time my face feels like a new born skin, it's so soft and clean. And believe me, I consider it clean when the cotton pad is left completely white after applying toner.

This brush comes with the standard green brush, but as you can see in the picture above I use a blue one which is especially for skin types that suffer from acne or blemishes. This brush is gentler and cleanses deeper. You can use the darker blue part  - or the rougher area on top of the brush - on the more problem areas, like the T-zone for example.    

What can I say? I'm in love with this brush. I've been using it for three weeks now and my skin feels - despite some blemishes - clean, soft and healthy. I honestly think that when I decide not to use this brush for even one night, I would still feel like my skin is not clean enough. Yuck, can't even think about that anymore haha. This thing will be in my life forever - and yes, I know that already.

So, what about you.. Are you familiar with cleansing brushes? If yes, what are your thoughts about it? If no, I can highly recommend you go to the shop immediately and get it yourself.. it will be life changing, I promise! Have a beautiful day everyone! :)

IT'S ALL ABOUT EYEBROWS

Eyebrows are features that can make or break your face. I mean, type 'celebs without eyebrows' into Google and you get funny results. No one wants a broken face, so it's important to get those brows in shape. I used to have problem brows, I didn't have that much hair and I kept them thin. Until last year when I decided to stop plucking and let my eyebrows grow. Thank Lord I was on time! If you keep plucking your brows, the hair starts thinking 'oh you keep plucking me? I'll stay away next time then.' So stop plucking so much peeps! Anyways, compared to what I had, my brows look fuller, thicker and - more importantly - much more in shape nowadays. Every 3-4 weeks I dye my brows, so that when I'm going au natural, my face looks more defined. Still, I don't have those killing Keira Knightley and Emma Watson eyebrows, but I might have found a product that makes my eyebrows make my face. 

Back in high school I started using eyebrow products and ever since then I've tried various brow pencils by Chanel or Dior. Last year, however, I totally got hooked on Anastasia Beverly Hills' eyebrow products. Their selection is amazing and the different shades are beautiful. I've been using the brow powder in the color Chocolate and I honestly can't live without it as they make my eyebrows look fuller in a very natural way. The powder is very easy to work with and it stays on almost all day - as long as you don't rub your face at least haha. So I guess I could say no other eyebrow products for me! Have you tried any Anastasia's products already?

*Commercial links 

Hair Inspo

I've been thinking about some changes to my hair lately. Not specifically with the color, I'm happy with my brunette look, but sometimes I really wish for an update of the model.

Even though I like my hair to be long, because it's simply easy to create a braid, a ponytail or a high bun, I still catch myself dreaming about a shorter cut. I've been scrolling through many pictures on Pinterest and I feel like daring myself to cut it, but I know myself and I know that when I cut my hair off, I like the new model for two weeks where after I start craving for my long hair again. In my opinion it's not so easy to create a nice updo with short hair, I hear you saying 'that's not true, there're plenty of updo's you can create', but yeah, I might be a little bit stubborn. My hair is really fine and I'm afraid that it gets so limp - or limper perhaps - when I cut it short. I really wish for long beautiful, thick hair (who doesn't?!) but it seems that my hair, somehow, stops growing at a certain length haha. 

So yes, I want something different, but I'm not such a dare-devil when it comes to cutting my hair. Should I go for a long blunt cut or just a trim? And what about an (angled) lob? And then.. bangs or no bangs? Decisions, decisions.. Here are some hairspiration pictures. What's your opinion? 

Edgy & TV

Eeeeek! Do you remember when I told you about the Mari Experience I went to a couple of weeks ago? I attended this beauty event where professional Dutch stylist Mari van de Ven shared all tips and tricks about hair and make-up. As I told you in this post, this beauty night was recorded for a Dutch TV program and guess what? The second episode just aired! It was SO weird to see myself on TV haha! I was trying to look away the whole time, because it felt a bit awkward to see myself so big on the screen. Not to mention the fact that every single person who watched this show could see me too - which made me feel even more awkward, can you imagine? I was too curious not to look at my TV ''debut'' though.. and honestly, if I can say myself, it wasn't so bad after all. Haha, I still can't believe it.. it was so weird.

I also promised you to show you some pictures, so here are some of the shots I took after my hair and make-up were done by professional stylist Mari van de Ven.

So what do you think? Do you like the colored ones or the black-and-white ones more? Let me know in the comment box down below. 

Have a lovely Tuesday everyone! :)

Beauty Night Out

Happy Friday everyone! I just wanted to tell you quickly about the Mari Experience by Dorien I went to last night. Together with my mom and sister I attended this event where professional Dutch stylist Mari van de Ven shared all tips and tricks about hair and make-up with us. Some women were chosen to go on stage, one got a complete new hairdo, another woman got foundation applied on her face and someone else got a total smokey-eye look. A new hairdo or what kind of colors suit you best concerning the make-up, depend all on the person. Big eyes, small eyes, narrow or wide.. What kind of a person is it? It all the depends on the details to get the best out of you. It was great to hear these tips from such a good stylist. It was very useful too!

Images by Dorien

And then out of the blue, another Dutch stylist, Lucien Beijerinck, pointed in my direction. What me? Or is he pointing to the woman behind me? Nope, it was definitely me. As I got on stage Mari showed the public how to contour the face to create the illusion of symmetry. What a little bronze here, and a pop of highlight there can do!

Images by Dorien

Mari wouldn't be Mari without doing something with the hair, so to put a cherry on top of the cake, he created an edgy updo. An updo that would go great for Christmas, New Year's Eve or for a great night out. I absolutely loved the updo, I felt so cool haha! Oh and Lucien answered my long-waited question, 'what kind of haircut would a professional stylist recommend me?'. Well, he said that he wouldn't change a lot, but that strong bangs would make my look complete. Who knows what will happen the next time I'm hitting the hairdresser.. 

It was such a great evening, we really enjoyed a mother-to-daughter-to-sister night out. The Mari Experience show from yesterday is also recorded for the Dutch TV-show 4Me. This show will be broadcast on the 9th, 16th and 23rd of December on RTL4. Eek! I'm going to be on the Dutch TV, such a weird feeling!

By the way, I took some shots of my look after the show, I'll show them to you guys later! For now, I wish you a lovely weekend!

A Miracle in a Jar

Lots of face masks have been on my skin to minimize my breakouts. I have to say that my face felt soft and clean afterwards, but that feeling only lasted for the day. Everyone suffers from skin issues and it's not a big deal if it happens once in a while. I too am a victim of 'not having a perfect, flawless skin', I suffer from breakouts and blemishes too. I heard lots of positive stories about the GlamGlow mud mask, also known as the miracle mask. During Fall and Winter every skin tends to get really dry and this mask should give you a perfect, healthy glow. It also should fight against blemishes and breakouts, so in general it should improve the condition of the skin as well. GlamGlow is used by many celebrities and since they always need to look good when hitting the red carpet, this product must do something good right? I wanted to know where all the fuss was about, so I thought to give it a try myself.

I was a little skeptical at first, because I didn't experience serious improvements with other face masks and why would particularly this mask work for me? The GlamGlow SuperMud fights against breakouts and other skin issues, so that's why I decided to try this one (they have other masks as well). I applied a thin layer all over my face and let it dry. As soon as it dried, I saw dark spots popping up, meaning that those areas needed a little more attention the next time. I left it for about 20 minutes and rinsed it off. I was so curious for the result! What seemed? My skin was so smooth and I got a beautiful glow, it looked like I just got a facial. I was hooked!

I've been using the SuperMud mask 2-3 times a week for about two months now and I'm still very enthusiastic. My face truly feels and looks more soft and clean, and stays like this for more than just a day. I don't think this mask is the only reason my skin looks better though. Since September I've been skipping dairy products such as milk, cheese and chocolate, because it could be the case that my skin reacts badly on those products. Ever since then, my skin conditions have been improving. There you have it ''Beautiful skin comes from within'' haha! But anyways, what I'm trying to say is that I don't think my skin changes come from the GlamGlow mask only, but also from not eating/drinking dairy foodies (I do miss (hot)chocolate A LOT, especially during this time of the year!). Using the right skincare products, getting facials every few weeks and not using make-up brushes help a lot too. The improvements basically come from a combination of everything. I don't want to scream too loud though, I'm not there yet..

The only downside of this GlamGlow mud is that it's quite expensive (€49,95 - 30ml), but since you need only the thinnest layer on your skin every time you apply it, the jar doesn't get so empty that fast. On top of that, this mask really improves your skin, so it's definitely worth the money! Have you already tested this miracle mask? If so, what do you think about it?

*Commercial links

New Hair

Yesterday I faced the moment of truth: cutting and dying my hair. It’s been two, maybe three, years since I colored my hair and I thought it was time for a change again. Two weeks ago I already decided that I wanted to dye my hair darker, but I wasn't entirely sure about the cut yet. Normally I let the hairdresser cut my hair as little as possible, but this time a little more chop chop was necessary.  

I always have to blow-dry my hair after washing, because any girl with fine, limp hair like mine knows, that creating volume is a must. The big disadvantage is, however, that it causes hair damage. My hair has gotten really dry, it started to look dull and unhealthy, and the sun created a sort of ombre look. I’ve been trying to fix my hair using hair masks more regularly (still need to do that more often though), oils and heat protections sprays before and after blow-drying, but the results still weren't that visible. So yeah, it was a good choice to chop off a little more than 'just as little as possible'.

My natural hair color is brown, but the sun made my hair lighter during summertime. The hair on top of my head was a lot darker than the ends, so I also wanted to get rid of my ‘sort-of-natural-ombre-look’ hair. My hair was yearning for a darker, still natural, color. So since Summer is gone, it was time to freshen up and add a little color! Ooh, I love how my hair feels and smells after a proper treatment!

P.s., If this post made you curious about the outfit I'm wearing, stay tuned! I'll show you more in my upcoming post.

Thank you for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!