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May 28, 2012

The Lazy Eye Combination

So as summer is upon us and also the semester is coming to an end (I can't believe there actually is one), I have been kind of behind with fancy makeup. I get very little sleep at the moment and seriously, if there's anything I'm not in the mood for, it's getting up in the middle of the night just for the sake of blending and contouring. I've gotten back to the basics again, I only do what I need to make me feel comfortable and ready to go. This little (all inclusive) routine takes me 10 minutes in the morning which I happily invest because I actually have been very happy with the results.

I have also made a few purchases amongst my new favorite eyeshadow, Maybelline Color Tattoo in the color On and On Bronze (post on that coming soon). This in combination with my new mascara, L'Oréal Telescopic (which is BEYOND amazing!) have made me skip eyeliner completely. I find that this is quite an achievement since I haven't left the house without eyeliner on for... years?

This is the pretty simple combo I came up with:


I used my finger to put Maybelline Color Tattoo eyeshadow all over the lid and then used a synthetic brush to blend out the edges. After that, I curled my lashes and applied two coats of mascara.

Yes I do wear contacts :)
What else I've been wearing on my face:
Bebe Tinted Moisturizer
Rimmel Match Perfection Concealer
Astor Anti Shine Powder
Manhattan blush in Fresh Peach
Maybelline Moisture Extreme in Pinky Beige

Please excuse the rambling in this post, I haven't blogged for ages (at least that's how it feels like), but I will try to post more often very soon!

Love,
Nathalie x

May 19, 2012

Lovely Quotes #7


"It's too bad that you want to be someone else.
You don't see your own face,
Your own beauty
Yet, no face is more beautiful than yours."
 Jalal ad-Din Rumi


"No distance of place or lapse of time can
Lessen the friendship of those
Who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth."
— Robert Southey


"They always say time changes things,
But you actually have to change them yourself."
 Andy Warhol

May 11, 2012

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

You may know it or not, but I am truly devoted to baking and try to do it as often as I can. I'm always in in terms of trying new recipes like fancy cupcakes, it's just sometimes I crave for something classic; something comfy that makes me feel good.
Apple Cinnamon Muffins are my go-to recipe to achieve that feeling. You only need very simple ingredients but the results are fantastic and always delicious!

You need (for 13-14 muffins):
• 3 small apples
• 200g of plain flour
• 100g of sugar
• 100g of butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 packet of vanilla sugar (or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract)
• a few drops of lemon flavor

Directions:

1.) Grease your muffin pans or put paper moulds in them.


2.) Peel the apples.

3.) Remove the cores and dice the fruit flesh.

4.) Beat eggs, butter, sugar, vanilla sugar and the flavor until fluffy.

5.) Mix flour, baking powder and cinnamon in a separate bowl.

6.) Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture, then fold in the diced apples.

7.) Preheat your oven to 180°C and transfer the batter into the muffin pans.


8.) Let the muffins bake for 20-25 minutes until they're golden brown.
See me in the oven door, haha!
Hope you liked this recipe!

Love,
Nathalie x

P.S.: For all the fellow Americans among you, here you have the metric conversions:


• 2 cups of plain flour
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 cup of butter

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

May 9, 2012

Milkmaid Braid for Short/Midlength Hair


Left side
Right Side

First of all I have to say that I usually don't do fancy things with my hair. I wash it every morning and blowdry and style it. And then maybe I will pin some sections out of my face. But that's it.

Then I watched Meg's video this week and I was intrigued. If she could do a fancy french braid on her short hair, maybe an unskilled person like me would be able to do that on my hair too? I figured I'd give it a try and I have to say I was pretty impressed with the result (and with my french braiding skills too haha).

All you need is two hair ties, a family pack of bobby pins, hair spray and some patience.

It's really easy to do, here's how to:

1.) Part your hair in the middle, divide it into two sections and secure them with two hair ties.
2.) Take one section and completely french braid it down.
3.) Roll in the braid and use a generous amount of bobby pins so pin in on to your head. Make sure it's really secure!
4.) Do the same thing on the other side.
5.) Mist hair spray over your hair for some extra safety (Bye ozone layer).

If you need more advice (and a video tutorial on this look), I will link you to Meg's video here.

Have a lovely day!

Love,
Nathalie x

May 7, 2012

My week on Instagram #2


Obsessing over Harry Potter // Wearing my mom's beautiful scarf // Trying a messy hair bun


Making apple cinnamon muffins yum! // Snowed under a ton of homework // Buying a new skirt at H&M


Snacking on chocolate-filled cake at school // Late night sundae at McDonalds // Baby blue manicure

Follow me on Instagram: @romanticgirlx

May 6, 2012

The Daily Nail: Peachy Nude Accent Mani


Today I wanted to show you what I wore on my nails this week. I got so many compliments on it (which made me really happy btw) and I figured I'd just blog about them.

The base color I used was p2 last forever nail polish in flirt and tease. p2 is a german drugstore brand, but if you're looking for a similar color, I'd say search for a nude beige with a lot of peach to it. In my opinion, it's a must-have in everyone's nail polish collection because you can wear it with everything. Plus it's looks gorgeous on the nails!
On my ring finger, I'm wearing H&M nail polish in Flamingo Pink. Maybe that's weird but when I bought this polish last week, I immediately had this manicure in mind. It's a dusty pink glitter polish and I already love it a lot. It somehow seems to me like a finely grounded version of Essie's Set Of Stones. Very pretty!

What have you been wearing on your nails lately?

Love,
Nathalie x

May 3, 2012

My Evening Ritual

You guys know that you should always get your makeup off, tone and moisturize your face before going to sleep, but in my opinion, it's equally important to take good care of your hands, cuticles and lips, too.


I actually started doing this because I have some products that I don't really like, but want to use up though (we all have those products!). So I sort of developed this little ritual that I do every night before switching out my bedside lamp and diving into the land of dreams.


First of all, I use my Body Shop Cranberry Joy Lip Balm and apply a good layer of this on to my lips. I bought this last year around christmas time because I totally fell for the smell. Plus you can never have to many lipbalms, right? The downside was that I hated how it looked on my lips. It's sort of a milky, lavender pink color that washes me out badly.
I rediscovered this last month in the depths of my makeup container and now I love it because it's such a good moisturizing lipbalm! Ever since using it, my lips have gotten a lot smoother and healthier.

I then go in with my Body Shop Chocomania Body Butter which I use as a hand cream. I got this free with purchase last month but oh Lord, the smell blows me away! I've never experienced such a strong scent in any beauty product before (and I'm actually one of those girls who prefer lighter scents). I could never bring myself to use it on my entire body :) But as you know, body butter is an extremely moisturizing product which makes it perfect for an intensive overnight hand treatment. Gotta love my soft hands now!

Last but not least, I pull out my Figs & Rouge Balm in Rambling Rose and pop a little bit of this on to my cuticles. So many british beauty bloggers rave about this and so I wanted to try it as well. You can read my full review here.
But bad news alert: I left this in the sun once and that somehow caused the smell to change a lot; but definitely not for the better! It still works brilliant as an extra cuticle treatment although, I do have to say that the natural oils help to nourish my dry cuticles a lot.

Do you have such an evening ritual, too? What products do you use?

Love,
Nathalie x