SMOONSTYLE

A powder for the lips? I had to see and try this for myself. In my lipstick collection you can find all different finishes and formulas, but so far, no powder.

Since I am having a 'James Bond' obsession, I thought I'd show you '007 Say my Name'. A ravishing red.

The innovative sponge is fun to use, however not that easy. To color the whole lips you need to dip into the cap at least two times to get the right amount of product. You can create several different looks with these Lip Powders that come in a total of 4 colors.

Before applying these, I would suggest that you exfoliate gently and moisturize your lips. It does emphasize dry patches.

Overall, I love the stained effect that it gives to the lips. It is quite long lasting, but when you eat something greasy, the color will come off.

These retail for €13. What do you think of the idea of a powder on the lips?

Simone

Zoeva has again won my heart with their latest release 'The Spectrum Collection'. A beautiful selection of colors that are exists out of three eye shadow palettes and three blush palettes. The eye shadow palettes are called; The Cool Spectrum, The Nude Spectrum and the Warm Spectrum. The blush family consists out of four coral, pink of nude colors.;

The Nude Spectrum called my name. The colors in this palette were inspired by the Sahara. There are 15 earth toned and sandy shades that resemble the beauty of the desert. I simply couldn't wait to dive into this palette!

I started by making a subtle day time look by using the shades 100 until 150. The will be more looks to come and more pictures of the other members of the Spectrum Family!

The palette retails for €35: Nude Spectrum

Simone

Our North American Tour has come to an end, and it was a very intense one. At least for me.

I have enjoyed the tour so very much. We had awesome bands with us on the first leg: Moonspell and Starkill. After NA, we joined the 70000tons of Metal Cruise. I got to sing and hang out with Cristina, watch other bands kick ass, have the breeze of the sea in my hair, and the sun shining on my face.

During the whole tour I have been struggling with my in-ear that broke in all sorts of ways. The custom-made in-ears have a 'loose' wire so that it can be replaced in case necessary. My wire kept coming off, pulling down the right side. You might imagine that while banging your head that is a tad bit uncomfortable. My left side speaker blew up, so I had to switch it off. Then, out of no where, it disappeared. Even though there is no sound coming out, I still like to wear it for protection from the stage sounds. It ended up in one of my grocery bags. Lucky me! Shortly after, it dropped on the tiles from the bus and the plastic cracked. Our awesome crew got some super glue and fixed it. It is currently in repair. I hope that I can rock with it during our upcoming tour. Makes performing much more comfortable. ;)

Puerto Rico was such a treat to play! The audience went nuts. Singing along to all the songs and just being so kind to us. We can't wait to be back!

 

Colombia has been another warm welcome. We had some time to recover from all the traveling and went to an amazing restaurant called 'Wok'. I liked it so much that I wanted it for dinner the day of the show. Unfortunately for me, my stomach was not agreeing with my dinner. During the show, my belly was bloating up like being 9 months pregnant. It hurt so much and I wanted to enjoy the show so much more, but I was already really sick. After that, I had a night from hell. Food poisoning has happened to me before once, and it is simply sucks! This time it was paired with a racing heart. I was really frightened that something was wrong. So, no sleep for me and then 32 hours of traveling. 

No matter how horrible my ending of the tour was (I still have stomach cramps), it was all worth it! I won't let it spoil the beautiful memories that I have gathered over the last few weeks. I will just be holding off the sushi for a while. ;)

Simone

Today is the 14th of February, which according to the shops and consumerism, means Valentine's Day. I will reveal to you that I do not value that day more than any other day. I show my love and affection on any given moment and am not that great of a romantic either.

However, I did get Oliver something because we normally never really do anything for Valentine's Day. We both don't care much about it. It is nicer to get a gift for someone when they don't expect it. This time, I decided to do the unconventional timing on V Day.

A while back I got the Mosaic photo album app on my phone and started playing around with it. My first order was for the grandparents. Pictures of babies are always a huge success. I loved it so much that I wanted to make one for Oliver. We have received photo books from our friends in the past and they are so dear to us. With all the digital photos, that tend to get lost on the computer and endless external hard drives, it is nice to have the old fashioned print in the palm of your hands.

Mosaic makes it all very easy. It all goes via your phone. You pick 20 of your favorite pictures and they make a mosaic cover out of it. You can shuffle it a couple of times to your liking. Then you have 20 pages of pictures. I advise you to edit the pictures so that they are squared shaped. Like this you will have the whole page filled with your favorite moments. Another little tip of what I did was that I imported the more professional pictures on my phone. That way you can have the best quality.

The Mosaic Photo Book costs €20 and the shipping €5. It comes wrapped in a beautiful cardboard case. No need to put gift wrapping anymore. Great for the ones that are not that talented in wrapping gifts ;)

Enjoy and appreciate your loved ones in your own way and do not feel pressured to buy presents. The most precious gift is your time.

Although, a photo book never hurt anybody. ;) Oliver was very happy that I made one for him. He said that must have taken a long time.... I replied, "No, dear. Not at all."

Simone

Highlighters/Illuminators have become my new favorite beauty item. As a mixed skin type of girl, I like a matte foundation and a good highlighter to give a healthy appearance to the skin.

In my daily make up routine, I always include a highlighter. For day time I love Moonstone by Becca and for the stage and glowy days I take Champagne Pop.

Highlighter is mostly applied to the high points of the face, which are: the cheek bones, under neath the eyebrow, the bridge and tip of the nose, the cupids bow and the inner corners of the eye. On my lazy days, I like to use it as an eye shadow as well.

If you want to intensify the glow you can either spray a face mist after you are done doing your base (I use MAC's Fix Plus), or wet the brush after you've put the highlighting powder on. If you are feeling extra fancy, you can also use a liquid or cream highlighter to then top it of with a highlighting powder.

Lately, I have been busy expanding my glow machines collection. My newest addition is 'Starlight' from Anastasia Beverly Hills. This is perfect for the pale ladies out there that can't handle the famous 'So Hollywood' that a lot of Insta Beauties have been glowing with.

Starlight is a pale white gold with a hint of pink iridescence to it. I put it next to Mary Lou Manizer and Becca's Moonstone for you to see a comparison. I even swatched them. ;) Starlight is the brightest of them all, but not the most pigmented. The pattern is too pretty to be touched, but I want that glow on my face.

Which are your favorite highlighters? Any of you into strobing?

Simone

Lime Crime has been a brand that I wanted to try since a very long time. Everybody raves about their Velvetines (liquid to matt lipstick). They were one of the first companies to release the liquid lipsticks. Now almost every brand has their own version of the liquid lipsticks.

I caved in and got some Velvetines along with the beautiful Venus Palettes, I and II. The colors in the first Venus palette are all to my liking. Since the beginning of Epica I have worn red toned eyeshadows. They just make blue eyes pop like crazy.

The palette contains 8 eyeshadows, they have a nice big size which makes me happy. I can love these for a long time.

If you google the Venus Palette you may find good swatches. You know that swatching isn't my strong suit. Over all the pigmentation is really good. The colors are such a great break from all the nude palettes that are out there. I do love those too, I have to say. The most insanely pigmented of them all is 'Rebirth', such a gorgeous color! Venus and Muse are my favorites.

The palette retails for about $32. I got them on sale and made a good deal. I do think that they are worth the $32. The packaging is cute, but I prefer more travel friendly packaging like the Zoeva and Lorac palettes.

I created two grunge looks for you and also changed up the lipsticks. Have a look and tell me what you think! Would you rock red eyeshadow?

Simone