Anatomy of a new Fitness Routine

As mentioned in the very first post, this blog will deal with different topics. I don't want it to be yet another beauty blog (although beauty of course is an important part of a woman's life ;-)). In the future, I also want to write about other things that are important to me. e.g. my sports routine and how I try to keep myself fit. So, to make a start with sports, have a look at the Anatomy of a new Fitness Routine (from Vibram FiveFingers):

Beauty items for my short trip

Last week. I was on a business trip for 2 days (including travelling, the trip took 4 days, i.e. I stayed for 3 nights alltogether). At first, I packed 3 small bags:

But unfortunately, I threw a lot of beauty stuff into my suitcase on the very last minute and used just a tiny amount of the huge amount of stuff I took with me ... But I'll tell you the details later ...

In the bags shown above are my

• brushes (in the flat case on the right)
• cleaning and medical items and even something for sports (a theraband) (in the middle)
• makeup items (in the bag in the left)
• skin care (in the bag in the left)

 
These are the make up items and the make up brushes, I packed at first:

• Zoeva eye shadow base + the right green brush (Bdellium 778) for applying it
• Maxfactor 2000 Calorie Mascara + Zoeva brown liquid liner
• NYX eye shadow palette: Besides being tiny and light-weighted, it is just perfect for the purpose of creating a nude eye make up and just helps giving the perfect amount definition. And you can even build it up for the evening. The eye shadow brushes are: MAC 239, MAC 217 and Zoeva Crease brush.
• Nars Tinted pure radiant tinted moisturizer. I applied it with fingers.
• Benefit Hervana Blush: the perfect nude blush for a fresh & clean look. The brush for this blush is the Ecotools blush brush.
• Rival de Loop Aquapowder: it's not the best, but I am determined to use it up as soon as possible! The brush for applying it is the mineral powder brush by Bdellium Tools, i.e. the big green brush in the picture.
• Sante lip stick and Elizbeth Arden 8 hour cream lip stick.

Here is an additional picture of the brushes and the case I used for the transportation. It is the Real Techniques case you get when you buy a brush set. I love this case and it is perfect for travelling with brushes.

Again a picture of the make up items plus a brush cleanser (the bottle with the pinkish fluid - this is the MAC brush cleanser I filled into another bottle), eye make up remover pads (refilled into the case of Kaufmann's Haut- und Kindercreme) and a small travelling package of face make up remover wipes by Cadeavera.

Above the brushes, a mirror can be seen. Left of the mirror a pair of tweezers can be seen, manicure stick, nail scissors, a nail file and 3 q-tips. Also a lip balm (Nonique Intensive Kiss) and a hand cream (Nuxe Reve de Miel) can be seen.

Furthermore, I took with me 3 small body lotion samples from Weleda (Citrus, Granatapfel and Sanddorn), a face cream for the day by Nonique, a face cream for the night by Nonique and an eye cream by Nonique. The two bottels above the eye cream and left from the bodylotions are refillable GoToob bottles by Humangear which I filled with shower gel (the big one in green) and with shampoo (the small one that looks orangy - this is not the bottle but the shampoo).
Left from the Humangear bottles, you can see my electric tooth brush, a mouth wash and a tooth paste.

Left from the mouth wash, you can see my medicine (Migrastick, tablettes against head ache and eye drops) and my dietary supplements (Magnesium, Vitamin C, Fish oil capsules, Chlorophyl tablettes). The lilac thing on the left upper part of the picture below is my theraband for a little bit of sports in hotel rooms.

See additional pictures of the packing process:
Skin care and make up have been packed into the first bag, the makeup brushes have been packed as well:

 The rest fits into the black bag:

Finished! Everything is packed.

But, as mentioned, I threw a lot of additional stuff in the very last minute into my suitcase and most of the stuff I took with me hasn't been used at all. I don't bother you with a picture of the huge amount of stuff, I threw into my suitcase in the very last minute.

I haven't used so many things because I was travelling by plane and on flights I don't use much makeup. On flights I prefer to rather moisturize my skin and not to additionally irritate it with makeup. I also prefer to not wear too much makeup when I am doing business. I'm afraid that people get distracted by the make up and don't notice anymore who I am or what I say. Nevertheless, I do know that I might be too careful concerning makeup. There shouldn't be any doubt that if I make a good impression on everything concerning business no one would ever notice the makeup - even if I use a lot of it. So, I guess, I basically don't like to put too much and too colourful make up on because I don't want to distract myself. ;-)

Here is, what I really used while travelling:

• Shampoo & Shower Gel
• Tooth paste, mouth wash and my tooth brush (I have forgotten to add them to the picture).  
• My Theraband for Sports (I have forgotten to add it to the picture). 
• Face Cleaning Wipes & Eye Makeup remover pads (note that the pads are in the little blue Kaufmann's Haut und Kinder-Creme container)
• Eye cream and Face Cream for the Night (the one for the day did not provide enough moisture for my skin)
• Caudalie Eau de Beauté (inspired by Lisa Eldridge - I like it a lot, it is really refreshing) 
• Tangle Teezer as hair brush (in the picture with the makeup below)

And for Makeup, I just used:

• Nars pure radiant tinted moisturizer, applied with fingers
• Benefit Hervana as blush, applied with MAC 168
• As lip care & lip stick: Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream stick in Blush
• Zoeva Eye shadow base, applied with Bdellium tools brush 778
• Mascara MaxFactor 2000 Calorie
• MAC Quad (which I threw into my suitcase in the very last minute) with 
• Vanilla & Shroom as base colours (applied with MAC 239 brush)
• Omega (applied with MAC 217) for the Crease and the outer V
• Concrete as eye liner (applied with MAC 242)

I haven't used any bodylotion because I just didn't have time. Either I worked until late in the night or I joined socializing events with co-workers. I haven't used all brushes and I haven't used all my eye shadows. Also, I haven't used any powder and only one of the lipsticks I took with me. Next time I'll pack more wisely! For sure! ;-)

Highlights of my last week

Last week, I have been travelling. It was a business trip and it was a lot of work, but also fun. :-) Have a look at the pictures.

During the flight:

Food during my trip:

Airport Shopping:

I am looking very much forward to testing the Hydraquench Cream by Clarins. I have bought the normal one for normal & dry skin and the rich one for very dry skin or cold climates.

New in: Brushes

Since I've seen Estée from Essiebutton discussing her favourite brushes, I felt the desperate need to try the Sephora #45 brush and the Flat Top Kabuki Brush by Sonja Kashuk. I love flat top kabukis and when I read that they are for liquid/cream blushes I am an easy victim. So, I immediately ordered the Flat Top Kabuki Brush by Sonja Kashuk. With the #45, I was at first unsure because I already have a lot of brushes for foundation and don't use foundation that often. Most of the time, I don't apply foundation on the whole face anyway. I apply it on the nose and the chin and the forehead and a small brush sufices for blending out that little bit of foundation and the nose requires some detail work anyway. Hence, a small brush does best. But then the curiosity won - what if this brush was the perfect brush missing in my make up routine? What if this brush would revolutionize my complete make up routine? (Probably this is the typical kind of thought of a make up addict :-D)

Since I don't live anywhere near a Sephora store and have not found Sonja Kashuk anywhere near me either, I ordered both via Ebay. They arrived in no time and I am looking forward to experimenting with them.

This is how they looked upon arrival in their original packaging:

 

Unpacked:

The heads of the brushes (first the Flat Top Kabuki by Sonja Kashuk and then the Sephora #45) before the first wash:

 

 

As soon as I have a strong opinion on how they perform, I will do a review. My very first impression, however, is that I have made really good purchases. They wash like a dream and I already tried them a little bit with different products. I think, I'll like those brushes. But let's see whether they indeed prove themselves over time.

Sunday Morning

This sunday morning is a great one. It's warm, the sun shines and I enjoy my favourite Chai (Laudatio Chai Latte from Rossmann) with the german newspaper "Die Zeit" on the balcony (it's not the current issue since I still haven't finished this one).

How do you start your day on a Sunday morning? 

Nails

I have been invited to a birthday party later today, the weather is great and I am just in the mood to dress up and even paint my nails. I chose to paint them in my favourite french colour which is Allure by Essie. I love Allure - in my opinion, it is gives such a nice, sophisticated and elegant look. Kate Middleton even married with Allure - so, obviously, it is sophisticated enough for a royal wedding. ;-)

I used the following products: P2 Total Repair (the old version of 2011 - recently they changed the formula, but I love the old one and even have a backup) as a base, then Essie Allure and afterwards Essie Good To Go as top coat. 

I hope, they stay as they are for the whole next week. Since I am working at the computer a lot and see my hands all the time while typing on the keyboard, I especially enjoy to see them well-manicured.

My make up collection 2

This is the followup to my make up collection post. A lot of items were still missing; here they are: My palettes and undepotted eye shadows:

The MAC quad is from the Shop, Shop, Shop, Cook, Cook, Cook LE and I want to depot it as soon as possible since it is far too sturdy and I prefer to sort the shades according to their colours into my freestyle palettes and for travelling mix and match them in empty MAC quads with my other eye shadow shades. Otherwise, I just don't use the eye shadows at all.

The other palettes and the Nars eye shadows will remain as they are. I like the packaging and they are perfect for travelling as they are.

Here are my pigments: 

 

I don't find it convenient to use pigments as they are and therefore I prefer to press them into an empty eye shadow pan and put them into my depotted eye shadow pallets. You can find Crystal Orchid in my lilac and orange pallet (see the first make up collection post). This is the only pigment, I already managed to press. However, as soon as I find time, the others will follow. 

Here are my eyebrow products:

Here are my lip glosses (the 4 products on the left), my lip primers (the 2 products in the middle) and my lip liners (all colourless):

Here are my lip sticks:

The only things still missing now are my nail polishes. But I don't own very many of them and most of them are rather boring since they are for a french nail style anyway. If you want to see them, tell me. Otherwise, I prefer to not bothering you with them - at least not in this post. ;-)

Relaxed Lunch

This is how a very relaxed and healthy lunch looks like for me. For dinner, my boyfriend and I usually do cook something together. Hence, I prefer a rather uncomplicated lunch that does not bother me too much but still is healthy and also tasty.

Usually, I have a huge bowl of delicious salad (here: tomatoes with spring onions, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt + pepper + basil) and open sandwiches. In spring and summer when the weather is nice, I enjoy my lunch on the balcony. When the pictues have been taken, it was warm and sunny and really nice.

Here, I have put on half of my open sandwiches several pieces of sliced salami and on the other half some of the Alnatura Aubergine spread. What do you usally put on your bread? And how do you enjoy your relaxed and uncomplicated lunches? :-)

My make up collection

Recently, I have photgraphed my collection of make up items. It's pretty huge for someone who tries to live simple and minimalistically. However, it's still manageable and I cannot imagine to live with less. Have a seat ... and enjoy!

Let's start with the most important part of any make up collection: the brushes. I use brushes for nearly the whole make up application. Here are my eye make up brushes which I use regularly (I actually own even more of them but these are the ones I found most useful for my purposes). The ones on the right have obviously not been cleaned. Sorry about that! :-)

These are my current face make up brushes:

I have depotted most of my eye shadows in order to get a better overview of the colours, but also because I found their cases to be too bulky. Before that I needed much more space for storing them. Now I use 4 deconstructed slim MAC palettes (originally sized for 15 eye shadows):

Light colours:

 

Brownish colours:

Browns (those didn't fit anymore into the browns palette shown above), Greens, Yellow, Black and Greys:

Lilacs and Orange:

These are my eye primers which I have currently in use.

Cream eye shadows, i.e. paint pots and shadow sticks:

Eye liners:

Khol liners:

Mascaras:

My complexion products (the two products on the left are highlighters, in the middle you can see a depotted compact powder, then 2 BB creams, then a loose mineral powder, the other products are a bronzer and 4 concealers):

Powder blushes (most of them are depotted):

 

Cream Blushes:

I didn't take pictures of my palettes and eye pigments (yes, I own even more eye shadows) and of my lip products. My eyebrow products are not included either. Maybe in another post. :-)