Blake Lively in Glamour Magazine

I adored these pictures of Blake Lively in the July issue of Glamour magazine - and can I say I always have major hair envy when I see pics of her? Anyway, I loved the retro feel of this photo spread, very Audrey Hepburn inspired but with a modern twist. I just knew I had to recreate this makeup look. It's a bit hard to see the eyes up close, but the last picture (bottom right) gives the best insight when you zoom in - medium brown eyeshadow with a smoked out dark eyeliner, full lashes, and distinctly peachy nude lips. Here's my take on this look (keep in mind these are taken at night with flash whereas in the magazine it looks like natural daylight so it's hard to capture the same effect on pictures.)

Face & Cheeks
Lancome Teint Idole foundation, Neutrogena Healthy Skin foundatio, Ben Nye Blush in Natural and Latte

Eyes
MAC Bare Canvas Paint, Ben Nye Cork, Ben Nye Toast, Lancome Le Crayon Khol in Noir, Catrice I am a Coal Girl, Red Cherry Lashes (forget which number since I lost the case for them), L'Oreal Volume Million Lash mascara

Lips
MAC Myth Lipstick, Barry M Nr. 147

Nails
Barry M Cyan Blue

Click here to watch the video tutorial on Youtube

Dark Princess

If you've watched my videos for a long time, you know how much I adore doing the dark and dramatic looks. Even if they aren't very suitable for everyday situations, I love the artistry and color combinations to create a dark effect. With this look I wanted to combine purple and deep aubergine colors without using too much black. If you don't want to have the effect on your cheeks, adjust it to your tastes and just stick to the eyes. Enjoy!

Face
Neutrogena Healthy Skin foundation, Lancome Teint Idole foundation


Eyes/Cheek area
MAC Greasepaint stick in Slick Black, L'Oreal Infallible Purple Obsession, MNY Nr. 337, Ben Nye Cosmic Violet, Ben Nye Toast, Ben Nye Azalea, Catrice black gel eyeliner, L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes mascara

Lips
MAC Hush Cream Color Base, MAC Velvetella lipliner, MAC Mattene Night Violet lipstick, MAC Show Orchid, Calypso Minerals duochrome shadow (discontinued brand)

Nails
Anny - 535 The Show Must Go On

Watch this video on Youtube directly

13 Personal questions tag!

I decided to do the 13 personal questions tag going around on Youtube on my vlogging channel, check it out! If you want to do this tag, go ahead and post it as a video response.



13 Questions:

1. What do you order at Starbucks?
2. What's one thing in your closet that you cannot live without?
3. What's one thing that most people probably wouldn't know about you?
4. Name one thing that you want to do before you die
5. What's one food that you cannot live without?
6. What quote/phrase do you live your life by?
7. What do you like and dislike about the YT community?
8. What's your number one most listened to song on iTunes?
9. What kind of style would you define yourself as having?
10. Favorite number
11. Two hobbies
12. Two pet peeves
13. Guilty Pleasure

Snack time! Cantaloupe with Blue Cheese and Prosciutto

This is an absolutely yummy snack I came up with on the fly today; I gobbled it up with such relish that I had to share. After an intense work-out session (I'm currently mixing it up between the P90X and the Insanity DVDs) I looked in my fridge to see what I could scrounge together and this is the result.

Ripe and juicy Charentais cantaloupe melon, Saint Agur blue cheese crumbled on top, and ripped up Prosciutto Italian ham. 

This was so refreshing. Melon and ham is a traditional Italian combination, but the blue cheese gave it something extra. If you love savory (sweet and salty) flavors you will really enjoy this! I used half a melon for this and it was just the right amount. Try it out :)

Changes!

I've made a few changes to my blog and wanted to let you know about the type of content you can expect here in the future. For one, this blog will no longer focus exclusively on makeup and beauty - it will still be the main focus but for me beauty means more than just lipstick and eyeshadows. As my interests develop to other areas, I want my website to reflect that. I grow bored of just posting lipstick swatches and reviewing products and there's so many blogs already dedicated solely to that which are far superior in the swatching department, to be frank. This doesn't mean I won't do it at all anymore, but it won't be the only thing I write on here.

Often I felt I couldn't post certain content on my blog because it had nothing to do with makeup and beauty. From now on, I will be adding content on other interests as well, such as cooking and healthy living. This is obviously something that has hugely changed me as a person not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally. I've always enjoyed cooking and food, and I hope to be able to share more pictures and recipes with you, that not only taste great but are also good for you.

If you look at the tabs menu bar on my website at the top, I've added a few more categories so you can easily find the content you are looking for. Healthy Living is one where I'll post about my fitness and weight loss/weight maintenance, and Cooking is another - although these might sometimes intersect. In the past few weeks I've realized that my viewers are also very much interested in these topics, which is wonderful to hear, so I'll finally feel "at ease" posting this kind of content also on my website.

I really hope you will enjoy this, and I hope for myself that this will also renew my interest in blogging and sharing my own interests and passions with you all!

xo,

Julia

Katy Perry "Last Friday Night"

I wanted to try my hand at Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night" music video makeup, but make it a tad more contemporary and wearable. You can watch Katy's music video here. In the video it's very over-the-top 80s style, so by changing up the blush placement and the replacing the very frosty lipstick, the look is already a lot more up to date.

Eyes
Urban Decay Primer Potion, Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Dab, Barry M Dazzle Dust Nr. 78, Ben Nye Cosmic Violet, MAC Reflect Transparent Teal glitter, MAC Shroom, Lancome Le Crayon Kohl in Noir, Ben Nye Cosmic Blue, L'Oreal Volume Million mascara

Cheeks
La Femme Lilac Champagne blush

Lips
Rimmel lipliner in Indian Pink, MAC Chatterbox lipstick, P2 Colorstar Lipcream in Rita Hayworth

Nails
Essie Barefoot & Topless

Watch the video tutorial on Youtube

Weightloss Update: Getting Toned

A lot of you have been asking how things are going with my diet and lifestyle change. I'm happy to say that things are still going really well, I've been very motivated with doing work-outs, focusing more on building muscle and toning. I do all my workouts at home, I don't go to the gym or exercise classes. I barely go on the scale anymore, just keep track of my changing body shape. Watch my update video below, I talk in detail about my exercise routine and food plan.

FOTD: Lady Danger

Just a quick Face of the Day today. I was in the mood to sport one of my favorite lipsticks - MAC Lady Danger. It is a bright, retro-looking matte orange toned red that definitely makes a statement. I haven't worn red lipstick in a while!

Face

Kiehl's Tinted Moisturizer, Neutrogena Healthy Skin foundation, MAC Blushbaby blush

Lips

MAC Redd lipliner, MAC Lady Danger Lipstick

Eyes

MAC Rubenesque Paint Pot, Half Baked, Sin and Virgin from the Urban Decay Naked Palette, Illamasqua Medium Pencil in Cane, L'Oreal Volume Million mascara

Mermaid Eyes

Summer means fun, bright colors to a lot of people, myself included. This eye makeup is a reinterpretation of a look I wore (rather sloppily) in one of my first videos on Youtube, which I never made a tutorial for. You can see that video here to see what I mean. I decided to recreate the look using the exact same shadows I used back then, but change the color placement up so it looks nicer. The finished result definitely reminded me of mermaids!

You can also watch my Mermaid Halloween look here, although it's of course much more costume-y.

Eyes
NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk, NYX White, Ben Nye Turquoise, NYX Morocc, Sugarpill Bulletproof, Ben Nye Toast, NYX Lime Juice, Ben Nye Jade, Sephora Keep Blue pencil, Maybelline white eyeliner pencil

Cheeks
Nars Desire blush, MAC Chimpagne MSF

Lips
NYX Femme, Illamasqua Sheer Lipgloss in Torture, P2 Rodeo Drive, Revlon Peach Petal

Nails
Illamasqua Jo'Mina

Click here to watch the video tutorial on Youtube

Summer Fashion Haul

I've filmed a video of some collective clothing hauls of the past while - I've been in dire need of some new summer clothes as my last year's duds don't fit me at all anymore. Check out the video to see what I purchased and how to combine it for cute, affordable outfits.

Lancome Rose Romance Look + Contest

Wow I haven't updated my blog in a hot minute!!

Several months ago I was offered a wonderful opportunity to visit the Lancome headquarters in Germany and meet the whole team. I also had a chance to hang out with Ronald Bauer, Key makeup artist for Lancome Germany. Ronald and I got along so well, and had a chance to discuss the latest products, trends and the insider's scoop. We also spent a day shopping the trendy stores in Düsseldorf, a video of which you can see on their Youtube channel.

Lancome Germany has launched their brand new Youtube channel, and Ronald will be sharing lots of tutorials and tricks with you all. To celebrate the launch, Lancome is hosting an amazingly generous giveaway to all new subscribers - open worldwide! You can win all the Lancome products that I use in my makeup tutorial - check out this romantic rose look I created.

What you can win:

• 10 complete Look-Sets -- Hypnôse Noir, Ombre Absolue Palette A10, Crayon Khôl Noir, Artliner, L'Absolu Nu 301, Juicy Tube 22, Blush Subtil 02
• 30 L'Absolu Nu 301 Lipstick

How to enter:
- You must SUBSCRIBE to the Lancome Germany Youtube channel and leave a COMMENT on the latest video (Ronald and I shopping in Düsseldorf). The winners will be chosen randomly from all the comment entries, you can enter as many times as you like. Contest ends June 8, 2011. The contest is open worldwide.

Click here to go to the video and subscribe to Lancome! Make sure to leave a comment on the video to be entered.