Tutorial: Greek Goddess (Halloween)

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Halloween videos!! My favorite time of year, and I hope yours as well? For my first Halloween video this year I decided to go for this Golden Greek Goddess look. This costume idea can be used for a whole variety of Gods and Goddesses.

Watch my video tutorial to learn how to do the makeup, hairstyle, accessories and what costume goes with it.

Face
Kryolan Shimmering Event Foundation, L'Oreal True Match foundation, Sleek Makeup Glo Face & Body Highlighter in Peach Shimmer, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Global Glow, real gold leaf (craft store)

Eyes
MAC Uppity Fluidline, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Loose Color in Auric, Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Beguile, MAC Golden Lemon Pigment, MAC Blacktrack Fluidline, LitCosmetics liquid glitter base, Cinema Secrets cosmetic Glitter in Oscar, Illamasqua Precision Ink in Alchemy, Catrice Eyebrow Stylist Nr. 30, Amazing Shine Lashes Nr. 47, Rimmel Scandaleyes mascara

Lips
MAC Myth, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Loose Color in Auric, Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Beguile

Hair accessories
metallic gold spray paint, plastic vines and apples on wire, gold metallic glitter, L'Oreal Elnett hairspray, hair doughnut from Claire's Accessories

Nails
Orly "Glitz & Glamour"


What are you dressing up as this Halloween? Share in the comments!

Recipe: Autumn Pumpkin Salad

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I came up with this salad a while ago and have been making it on the regular - I just love early autumn seasonal produce like freshly harvested blue grapes, pumpkin, blue figs and red cabbage. I combined them in a salad with tomatoes and spinach, added some blue cheese, roasted nuts and seeds, and a nice dressing, and you've got a very filling and utterly delicious dinner salad.

I'm not very particular with measurements, as you can see in the video, so I'll try to write down about how much I used of each ingredient, but please adjust to your taste accordingly. You'll also just have to use however much salad leaves you think you can eat, as everyone is different.

Watch my video tutorial on how to create this dish!

Ingredients (Makes 2 large portions. For an appetizer this will serve 4.)
Fresh spinach
1/2 Hokkaido pumpkin 
Pumpkin seeds
Red Cabbage
2 Tomatoes
Handful of blue grapes
2-3 fresh figs
Handful of nuts (I used Hazelnut and Pecan)
150g of any kind hard blue cheese (for eg. Stilton or Roquefort)
Ras el Hanout & Curry mix spices

Dressing
2 tblsp. best quality extra virgin olive oil
2 tblsp. vegetable oil (eg. Canola, Sunflower)
1 1/2  to 2 tblsp. white balsamic vinegar (depends how tart you like your dressing)
1 1/2 tblsp. plain unsweetened yogurt
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Salt & pepper
1 big garlic clove (minced)
Splash of water to thin sauce
Salad herbs (fresh or dried, for eg parsley, chives, basil, etc.)


1. Cut pumpkin in half & de-seed. Chop into bite-sized bits. Spread on a baking sheet and sprinkle with spices of your choice (I used Ras el Hanout and Curry) and a splash of inexpensive olive oil. Toss with your fingers, then bake in a preheated oven at 210 C / 410 F for about 20 minutes until the pumpkin is roasted and slightly crispy on the outside.

2. Coarsely chop up the nuts coarsely and roast in a hot pan without oil until toasted slightly brown. I added some pumpkin seeds to the nuts.

3. Wash spinach and chop up and slice all the vegetables and fruits. Whisk together all the ingredients of the dressing in a large salad bowl. Assemble all the fruits and vegetables on top. Sprinkle with the nuts and seeds, and crumble the blue cheese on top. Top with the hot roasted pumpkin. Mix the salad and serve immediately! Tastes phenomenal paired with a glass of red wine.

Let me know how you like this recipe! :)

Fall Fashion: Outfit Ideas

The good thing about the end of summer is the beginning of fall - which means fall fashion and style! I love this time of year, where it's not too cold yet so you don't have to bundle up completely, and you can really let your personal style show with accessories and outfit combinations.

Check out this video I put together of some of my favorite fall outfits that I can't wait to wear. Sheesh, did I ever sweat up a storm filming this! It's not very cold here yet, and doing all the filming, camera work, and posing without any help is quite a process, I tell you. Not so cozy to be bundled up in woolies when sweat is trickling down your back.

What I'm wearing...

Outfit 1: Smart Casual

Shorts: Forever 21
Tights: Can't remember where I bought these
Sweater: New Yorker
Blazer: Vero Moda
Leather purse: From the leather market in Florence, Italy
Shoes: Steve Madden (last season)


Outfit 2: The Statement Coat

Coat: asos.com
Jeans: Berschka
Tanktop: H&M
Scarf: Vero Moda
Shoes: Bull Boxer


Outfit 3: Street Chic

Leggings: Zara
Top: Vero Moda
Belt: Kult
Crop jacket: H&M
Scarf: New Yorker
Ring: Just Access from asos.com
Earrings: asos.com
Shoes: Vagabond
Purse: Sami Quilted bag from handbagheaven.com


Nailpolish

Illamasqua Charisma

Taylor Swift Makeup Tutorial

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Today I'm recreating Taylor Swift's signature look, inspired by her perfume ad for Wonderstruck. It's her first perfume, and is newly released on the European market. Wonderstruck is a very fruity-floral combination, and I'm sure than many of Taylor's fans will absolutely love this scent. Here's a picture of Taylor at the Wonderstruck release for Macy's, which is one of many images I based this off.

I had so much fun filming and shooting this look. I grabbed my camera, my tripod and remote control, and got creative outdoors! I even had a few curious onlookers, check out my video for a snippet at the end.

Here's the tutorial!

Let me know how you like this style of filming? I personally think it's a lot more fun than just sitting at home, I love being outdoors, especially when the weather is nice. I have a lot of ideas for upcoming videos - Switzerland has some beautiful locations for shooting. Heck, film crews from Bollywood fly over from India to film here all the time, and I've got it right at my doorstep. I should take advantage!

Face
L'Oreal True Match foundation, L'Oreal Visibile Lift foundation, Ben Nye Natural Blush, Make Up Store Cover All concealer

Eyes
Mabelline On and On Bronze Color Tattoo, L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadow in Hourglass Beige, Catrice Starlight Expresso, MAC Shroom, MAC Feline kohl pencil, MAC Blacktrack Fluidline, Red Cherry Lashes (not sure which number),

Lips
MAC Red Enriched Lipliner, Giorgio Armani Rouge d'Armani 400

Nails
OPI Malaga Wine

Review: Hermes L'Ambre des Merveilles

Hermès has released a new perfume, called L'Ambre des Merveilles, which translates to The Amber of Wonder in English. By amber they mean the amber stone created from the resin of trees, fossilized over many thousands of ears within the Earth. The bottle above (100ml Eau de Parfum) resembles the stone, and stands leaning slightly to the side.

Amber

The perfume was created by the perfumist Jean-Claude Ellena, who wanted to create a decidedly feminine note without floral elements, rather with woodsy elements. The scent is a mix of vanilla, Patchouli and Labdanum, the latter of which is a sticky brown resin attained from rockrose shrubbery, often used for perfume. Perfumes that are named after amber don't actually contain the precious ingredient, but is often used to describe the type of scent created by mixing vanilla and Labdanum, which creates the honey-amber-colored perfume.

So what do I think of this scent?

I admit I was skeptical at first, because Hermès is not the type of brand I would ever choose to describe my personality. I always picture rich old ladies shopping there for purses and scarves; however, I also associate it with timeless, classic style and sophistication. This is exactly how I would describe the scent.

It is a beautiful perfume that is very elegant, high-class and sophisticated, without being edgy, cool or adventurous. It is feminine without being baby-ish, grown-up without being stuffy, elegant without being cloying. It might not be the first perfume I would grab off the shelf to buy, but it has definitely grown on me and I would wear this on a night out when I want to feel like a perfect lady. The lasting power is also incredible, since it is an Eau de Parfum, not an Eau de Toilette. A little goes a long way and lasts for many hours.

Two negatives: For one, it doesn't come with a proper bottle cap. There was a round plastic tube "thingee" supplied with it, but it's not a proper cap. So you cannot really close the perfume bottle for traveling, which is a nuisance. I like to take my perfumes with me for touching up, so unless you fill this into a travel size bottle, you run of the risk of it accidentally spraying in your bag. Definitely a "leave at home" bottle then. It struck me as very odd.

Second - well, let's face it: The Price! Hermès isn't exactly in the same price category as Bath and Body Works, or even mid-range perfumes like D&G or Boss, etc. I only was supplied the prices for the Swiss market (50ml Eau de Parfum 128 Swiss Franks, 100ml Eau de Parfum 182 Swiss Franks) but I imagine the prices are pretty high for other countries as well. The question then becomes, are you willing to pay for Hèrmes prices, or are you able to find another similar perfume in a slightly lower price class that you like equally?

If you like grown-up (but not old-lady) perfumes and don't mind spending a bit more for Hermès, I would definitely check this one out.

What is your favorite perfume for fall and winter? Share in the comments!

Tutorial: Ombre Lips

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I love ombre lips, more than actual ombre clothing which I'm not a massive fan of. They are so beautiful and eye-catching, and allow you to use several colors on your lips at once.

See my tutorial below for three different color combinations I like, and there's even a nude option for the shy, or if you just don't like strong lip colors. You will be bang on trend for fall with these stunning lips.

Lip Combo 1: Tropical Orange
Illamasqua - Atomic (top lip)
Make Up Store - Dare (bottom lip)
MAC Beet lipliner

Lip Combo 2: Vampy Red
MAC Bing Mattene (LE) - (MAC Cyber is a good alternative) (top lip)
Giorgio Armani Nr. 400 (bottom lip)
MAC Velvetella Lipliner

Lip Combo 3: Nude
Afterglow Cosmetics - Allure (top lip)
MAC - Myth (lower lip)
Rimmel nude lipliner

Nailpolish
Illamasqua - Rampage

Do you like the ombre lip trend? How would you wear it? Let me know in the comments!

Food Porn: This is How I Roll!

I've been on a healthy food kick again since the end of August - not that I was pigging out before but I've been really inspired to try out new combination of foods and use ingredients I've not tried yet. That might be a bit hard because I think I've tried every single vegetable and fruit that is for sale at our huge grocery store.

My mission is to find Kale. It's pretty hard to find here in Switzerland, even though it's a very common form of cabbage. It's one of those superfoods, chock full of antioxidants, minerals, vitamins and even protein! Anyone living in Switzerland seen it somewhere? I really want to try it!

Here's some food porn as inspiration to kick-start your own weight loss and/or health journey. These are all pictures of food I have cooked, from my Instagram stream  - which you can follow me by the way under my username mizzchievouz, or on Tumblr.

  

I've been making an effort to eat less meat, and more vegetarian meals. Since I try not to eat too many refined carbs, I opt for legumes or root vegetables, which are filling and delicious. I don't have specific recipes for the above dishes; my method is more like, "throw a bunch of veg and salad together, add some protein and done." The more colorful and varied, the better. There's nothing worse than boring food, boiled in water. Yuck! I love to work with fresh herbs and spices to add a lot of natural flavor to my dishes, instead of using ready-made dressings and sauces which are often chock full of sodium and sugar anyway.

What are your health goals for fall? Share in the comments!

Review: Illamasqua Generation Q Collection

Hello dear Readers!

Today I've got some bits and pieces from the Illamasqua Q (Fall/Winter 2012) collection. The collection slogan is "Where Beauty has no Age Limits" - one that I find very empowering. Generation Q is a celebration of beauty, regardless of age and restrictions. Beauty is not young or old, black or white, male or female, but includes everyone.

I absolutely love that they have used models from all different walks of life and of all age classes. Here are some backstage pictures from the shoot of a few of the models, as Creative Director Alex Box works her magic. I applaud Illamasqua for not photoshopping these gorgeous women half to death in the final promo pictures to magically get rid of all wrinkles!

Now on to the collection, which encompasses two eyeshadow palettes, two lipsticks, two lipglosses, two nailpolishes, two powder blushes, one liquid eyeliner, and one cream highlight product. Here are some of the products I have to show you.

Left to Right: Intense Lipgloss in Opulent, nailpolishes in Charisma and Creator, and Aurora Gleam (cream highlighter)

Gleam in Aurora

Aurora swatched

First up: Gleam. It's described as a lightweight compact highlighter, with an iridescent formula. I haven't played around with this too much but it feels a bit greasy. I'm not sure how well I will fare with this as I generally use shimmering powder highlighters, so this will be something different. I can see how it could add a wet look to the skin, which looks good on older skin, but it could also look a bit oily if you already have oily skin to begin with. To be honest, it's a bit underwhelming if you ask me.

  Charisma & Creator

Creator & Charisma

The polishes look absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to wear them! I've never been disappointed by an Illamasqua nail polish yet, and these look so wonderful for fall. Charisma has a beautiful raspberry-magenta shimmer, and Creator is black with a lot of silver glitter.

Opulent Intense Lipgloss

Above you can see a swatch of the Intense Lipgloss in Opulent. This is the one products where my immediate reaction was, "Oh HELL no!!" I have several Intense Lipglosses by Illamasqua and they are all that - lovely, intense glosses that apply like liquid lipsticks. This one has barely any color pay-off, the rainbow shimmer is barely discernible. This could be applied over another nude lipstick, but by itself it's a bit bland.

Now here's the real doozy - the packaging. Illamasqua have recently repackaged some of their products (I know of the nail polishes and the lipglosses) and wow, major downgrade! The bottle for the lipgloss looks and feels like a cheap lipgloss you might expect from the dollar store, and the brush head is just terrible. As you can see from the above picture, the fibers of the brush wand are spiky, stiff, plastic-feeling, and not uniform. It's an absolute pain to apply this gloss on the lips - to me, this is definitely not on the level of a department store lipgloss.

They have also repackaged the nail polishes. Because of the square bottle head, you used to be able to take off the top cap and re-align it so it's flush with the sides of the bottle when screwing closed. Now, you can't do that anymore, so you end up with a bunch of square heads that often won't align with the polish bottle. It's ugly and annoying for storing.

I really dislike these changes the brand has made and think it has downgraded the overall appearance and usability of the products. Illamasqua, please go back to the old packaging, or find a better bottle for your lipglosses. These wands are just awful!

In conclusion, I really like the polishes, am a bit underwhelmed with the Gleam, and completely dislike the lipgloss due to terrible packaging. The eyeshadow palettes look absolutely beautiful from what I have seen.

You can see the full collection on the Illamasqua Website. They also ship internationally.

Website: Illamasqua Generation Q

Will you be picking up any of the products? What do you think of their promo images and all-inclusive age campaign? Let me know in the comments!

Healthy Lunch Ideas for School

It's back to school for many kids and adults out there, be it high school or college. Or, you might be a mom who has kids to send off everyday for school. Here's a video you might find helpful: healthy, affordable and - most importantly - utterly delicious lunch ideas! Your kids will love you so much for making these yummy lunches, and you can have the peace of mind of feeding them healthy, fresh foods low in fat, sugar and sodium.

Here's what I'm making!

Lunch #1

Chicken Salad Wrap
Fruit Parfait
Coco-Mango Infusion

Lunch #2

Crunchy Veggie Wrap
Apple Strudel
Red Berry Infusion

Lunch #3

Spicy Tuna Wrap
Strawberry-Apricot Milkshake

All these lunches can be prepared in advance to cut down on prep time in the morning when you're in a hurry. The chicken and tuna salads can be prepared a day in advance; make an extra portion to keep in the fridge for multiple days. Veggies can also be sliced or chopped the evening before, just be sure to wrap in cling film to keep them fresh and juicy.

I hope you enjoy these lunch ideas! Let me know if you try any of them out. They are sure to be a hit with young and old alike.

Tutorial: Brandy inspired

This tutorial is inspired by Brand's latest music video, "Put It Down". One of the looks she wore in the video was this fantastically stunning smokey makeup that just looked so sultry and alluring. After watching the video a few dozen times on full-screen, I could make out that a silver-charcoal shadow was used on her lid, and some smokey browns to blend it out. Since Brandy has a darker complexion, the brown shadows obviously looks a lot more subtle than on my own fair skin, but I wanted to recreate the look as closely as possible.

Her lips were kept a glossy nude shade, her face was contoured and brightened up with a rosy blush, and lashes were used on top and bottom.

 

Here's my spin on this look.

Want to see how I did it? Then watch my video tutorial below!

Face
L'Oreal Visible Lift cream foundation, Bobbi Brown Shimmerbrick in Peony, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Shimpagne

Eyes
Sleek Molten Metal 715, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Loose Colour in Ironic, Barry M Dazzle Dust N. 97, MAC eyeshadows in Soft Brown, Handwritten, Copperplate, Solar White, Shroom, MAC Feline kohl pencil, Inglot AMC Shine shadow, Sigma highlight pencil (from their Brow Kit), Kryolan mascara, Amazing Shine lashes Nr. 47, (lower lashes I don't know which brand it is), Duo lash adhesive

Lips
KIKO Sheer Lipstick Nr. 400, Revlon Lipgloss in Peach Petal

Nailpolish
KIKO Nr. 288

Do you like this look and where would you wear it? Let me know in the comments!

Review: Kiehl's Aromatic Blends

Being a fan of many Kiehl's Skincare products, my curiosity was peaked when I learned the company is releasing four new fragrances. I attended a media event surrounding the release of these scents where I learned all about the creation process, the inspiration behind the fragrances, and how they are made. I was quite taken with the concept: simple, understated scents featuring only a few notes.

There are four fragrances in total, and accompanying each scent is a matching body lotion and shower gel. The body lotion is silicone free, and the body cleanser is sulphate-free.

Fig Leaf & Sage: This fragrance was inspired by memories of the perfumer's childhood in Provence, playing under a fig tree. Combining the scent of figs with the savory herb of Sage leaves, it definitely has a very Cote d'Azur French Riviera feel.

Vanilla & Cedarwood: The vanilla bean in this fragrance is sourced from a sustainable development project in Uganda, and these vanilla beans have a much higher quality than commercial vanilla (used for cooking example.) The sweetness of the vanilla combines with the woodsy cedarwood for a very unique combination.

Orange Blossom & Lychee: To achieve a very complex orange scent, many parts of the orange tree were used, not only the blossoms, but also the leaves and the stems. Combined with the lychee, this fragrance had an oriental, dreamy touch.

Nashi Blossom & Pink Grapefruit: For this Japanese inspired fragrance, perfumers used a complex extraction technology (instead of the traditional distilling method) to obtain the true fragrance of ginger to support the other scents of Nashi and grapefruit. This was my absolute favorite scent - it was extremely fresh and original, very revitalizing!

My personal favorite - as I already wrote - was the Nashi Blossom and Pink Grapefruit combination. It was airy, fresh, and citrusy, but still had a soft, feminine note. My least favorite was probably the Fig Leaf & Sage - I love to eat fresh figs, but I generally don't like perfumes with this note. There's something very strong and cloying about it that doesn't mesh well with my own body chemistry.

Above you can see the Vanilla & Cedarwood set - this one is very feminine and sweet, but the cedarwood adds an interesting touch that I haven't found in many other vanilla based perfumes.

I definitely recommend checking these out the next time you're at Kiehl's! They are very wearable, inoffensive scents that can be worn with ease. Have any caught your eye? Let me know in the comments which one you would try first.

School / College Makeup for Less

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Here's a quick, easy, and very affordable makeup look that's perfect for an educational setting. It should take you less than ten minutes in the morning to complete, will make you look effortlessly polished, and won't have you sticking out like a sore thumb on the first day of class.

Are you currently attending high school, college, or maybe a night class? Let me know in the comments!

If you want to recreate this makeup look, watch my tutorial below!

Face

L'Oreal Visible Lift cream foundation, L'Oreal Magic Smooth Soufflé in Plume

Eyes

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Tough as Taupe, Wet n Wild ColorIcon palette in Comfort Zone, L'Oreal Infallible Lacquer Liner in Blackest Black, L'Oreal Power Volume Collagen mascara

Lips

L'Oreal Caresse lipstick in Innocent Pink

Nails

Essie Topless and Barefoot

Watermelon inspired Makeup

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Mira from Funnypilgrim and I collaborated on this fun summer makeup - each of us came up with a look inspired by summer fruits. My fruit of choice was watermelon, and Mira's was blood oranges.

Here's what I came up with!

I have to say, I think this is one of my personal favorite looks I've done in a while. It's just so darn fun, bright and colorful! Where could you wear this? A summer cook-out, a BBQ with friends, a summer soirée, or maybe a summer music festival.

Watch my tutorial for step-by-step to recreate this look.

Face
L'Oreal Visible Lift cream foundation, MAC Fleur Power blush, Nars Desire blush, MAC Beauty Powder Blush in Play in Proper

Eyes
Urban Decay Primer Potion, Ben Nye eyeshadows in Cherry Red, Toast, Chartreuse, Jade Green, KIKO Precision Eye Pencil 411, MAC Blacktrack Fluidline, Illamasqua Precision Ink in Abyss, Rimmel Scandaleyes mascara

Lips
NYX Tinted Lip Spa in Juicy, Urban Decay Glide-On Cheek Tints in Crush and Bang, MAC Clear Lipglass

Nails
KIKO Nr. 332


Do you like the look? Please let me know in the comments!

Editorial Creative Makeup Look

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This look was based off an editorial photoshoot picture I saw on Pinterest, and I loved the color combinations and the overall look. This is obviously not an everyday wearable look (duh), but why not try it out to improve your own skills in makeup overall?

Check out my tutorial below:

Face
L'Oreal Lumi foundation, Ben Nye Contour Nr. 1, La Femme blush in Flamingo Pink, Illamasqua Intrigue blush

Eyes
Urban Decay Primer Potion, Sleek Curacao palette, Sleek Ultra Matte Palette V2, MUA Pearl eyeshadow Nr. 9, Makeup Forever Nr. 92 eyeshadow, MAC Spiked Brow pencil, Kryolan Cream Liner in Ebony, MAC Feline kohl pencil, L'Oreal Volume Million Lash mascara, Red Cherry Lashes Nr. C409

Lips
Lancome black pencil, Illamasqua Disciple lipstick, Sleek Curacao palette, MUA eyeshadow Nr. 9

Nails
KIKO Nr. 288