And the winner is...

Dovey! Congratulations on winning, Dovey! Please send me your shipping information via e-mail within three days, so that I can ship the eyeshadows to you :)

And please check out her amazing blog - it's so cute!

And to the other participants I would like to say: Hosting this giveaway was amazingly fun, so I'm sure that there will be more giveaways in the future<, so don't despair! And of course, thank you so much for participating ;)

Love,
Miss Diorista

Weekly Gratitude - Friends, Readers, Memories

• Thank you for sleep - it's so valuable when you're tired :)
• Thank you to Maja, for being such a sweet friend.
• Thank you to the ones who have kept me sane through this week - what would I do without you?
• Thank you to the readers of my blog, who are always there with their nice comments! You make my day ;P
• Thank you for the movie I just watched - sad but beautiful.
• Thank you for the German Film Festival here in Iceland - it's really eye-opening to watch films from other countries, as well as fun. And hey, they're German! You know me, I love Germany ;)
• Thank you to God, for giving me memories which I will treasure forever, and for showing me the strength which can be found in every single human heart.
• And an extra! Thank you to Script Frenzy, for opening up my mind to writing scripts... I've written a novel, many short stories and a truckload of poems, but I never considered scripts until now, so thank you! It might be an interesting thing to try :)

xox,
Miss Diorista

Haul from Berlin (part 2) - Revlon, The Body Shop

It's time for part 2 of this haul of mine from Berlin... and I think I'll try to post another one this evening. I really need to get this haul out of the way, so that I can start reviewing the products for you!

This part of the haul features products by Revlon and The Body Shop. I was especially excited about Revlon, since we don't have it here in Iceland! 

As usual, L-R, and we will begin with Revlon.

• The lipgloss is Revlon's Super Lustrous Lipgloss in Coral Reef, which is a beautiful coral colour. Very bright.
• The lipstick is Revlon's ColorBurst Lipstick in Crimson. Again, Crimson seems to be an exceptionally pretty shade. I usually don't go this dark with my lips, so I can't wait to try this deep, rusty red colour.
• Finally is Revlon's Grow Luscious Mascara in Blackened Brown. This mascara is supposed to make your lashes stronger while you wear it. I don't know about that (haven't used it long enough to tell), but I can tell you that I love it, and I also love the colour. I usually go for the blackest black I can find and I haven't found brown mascaras very flattering on me in the past. However, this colour almost looks black - yet it isn't. So it gives you a softer, more natural look, but still I go "wow" every time I use it... ok, I'll stop rambling about it! Review coming up, obviously!

Now on to products by The Body Shop!

• The squeezy tube thingy there (I love to hate and hate to love the word "thingy"... but I do love it...) is from The Body Shop's Spring Collection, and it is the Tailored Cheek Tint in Hot Pink. This is a gel blush which comes out clear, but turns a beautiful pink once you apply it to your skin. Review coming up, I love this!
• The Body Shop's Hemp Hand Protector is a staple for me (as you can read in my Winter Skincare post... though I use it all year round). I had run out of this and I can't tell you how happy my hands were to see their best friend again :)
• The last item is The Body Shop's Tea Tree Blotting Tissues. Those are blotting sheets with tea tree oil in them, so they're supposed to help with acne/blemishes. I have become addicted to blotting sheets, so I really look forward to giving those a try.

That's it for this part, stay tuned for part 3, which will include Manhattan, Artdeco and Maybelline ;)

Love,

Miss Diorista

P.S. As always, if you would like to see reviews on any of those, please let me know.

Spring is... almost here!

I'm feeling spring here!
I realized today that I hadn't baked cupcakes for ages - so of course, I had to set that straight :)
This is what I came up with - vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. I coloured the buttercream light green and decorated the cuppies with flower sprinkles. The cupcake cases are yellow. Believe me, those are summery to look at, but eating them just feels like summer! I'm ready for spring here...

I love that you can actually see the snow outside my kitchen window there... and here I am, talking about spring... I guess you can never be too positive :)

Since the recipe I used has been my go-to recipe for cupcakes the last few years, and it tastes amazing, I really want to share it with you. I originally found it online, and I believe it comes from the famous Magnolia bakery in New York (those are the cupcakes they eat on Sex and the City!)

Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcakes

*1.5 cups self-rising flour

*1.25 cups regular flour

*1 cup (2 sticks or 250 g) unsalted butter, softened

*2 cups sugar

*4 large eggs, at room temperature

*1 cup milk

*1 tsp vanilla extract

(makes 24 cupcakes)

Heat your over to 350°F or 180°C.

Line your cupcake tins with cupcake cases.

Blend together the two flours in a bowl and set aside.

In a big bowl, cream the butter (medium speed). Add the sugar slowly, and beat until light and fluffy (usually about 3 minutes).

Now add the eggs, one by one, and beat well in between.

Add the flour mixture, the milk and the vanilla extract in three parts each, alternating flour and milk (so: flour, milk, flour, milk, flour, milk). Beat well in between, but don't overdo it.

Fill the cupcake cases about 3/4 full, and bake for about 20-25 minutes.

Magnolia's Vanilla Buttercream

*1 cup (2 sticks or 250 g) unsalted butter, softened

*8 cups powdered sugar (I only use 6, which is more than enough)

*0.5 cup milk

*2 tsp vanilla extract

*Food dye (if wanted)

(more than enough to ice 24 cupcakes)

In a big bowl, beat together the butter, 4 cups of powdered sugar, the milk and the vanilla extract for about 3-5 minutes, using medium speed.

Add 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time, beating 2 minutes in between cups.

Add food dye (if wanted).

Now you can decorate your cupcakes, and believe me, the possibilities really are endless!

Hurry into your kitchens and start baking, folks ;)

Love,

Miss Diorista

  

I never say "Good Bye" because they seem like forever. I rather say "See you later". - Anonymous

Weekly Gratitude - Cupcakes, Japan, Titanic and Beautiful Moments

• Thank you to the cupcakes I just baked... and ate! You were delicious and you made my day :) I will be posting pictures of those cuppies soon!
• Thank you to the kind-hearted and brave people who are helping in Japan - you have given so many people their faith in the human being back.
• Thank you to my mom, for making such a nice rice pudding today :) How delish!
• Thank you for the small things in life - for they are not small when they are close to your heart.
• Thank you to my niece for finally making me see the movie "Titanic". Why didn't I see that movie before? It is so beautiful, yet so tragic... I'll have to watch it again some day.
• Thank you for the weekend ahead of me - and for making it seem so long when I know it really isn't!
• Thank you to God, for keeping my loved ones safe, and for allowing me to treasure some absolutely beautiful moments in my heart. Thank you.

xox,
Miss Diorista

Haul from Berlin (part 1) - Garnier, Douglas, Essence

Just like last summer, I am going to divide this rather large haul into 7 or 8 parts... in fact, the MAC - Wonder Woman haul was the first post in this series, but we'll still call this post "part 1" :)

L-R:

• First up are two lipglosses by Douglas, and they were given to me as a gift with my purchase. They don't have specific shade names (at least none that I can find), but one is clear with white and multi-colour glitter, the other one is slightly pink (but almost clear) with red and multi-coloured glitter. They feel kind of gritty on my lips...
• I was so glad when I found the Garnier Caffeine Anti-Dark Circles 2-in-1 Roll-on, since I don't think we have Garnier here in Iceland (except for hair products). This is basically a concealer and an eyecream in one product, with some added caffeine to it, as well as some lemon essence. Mine is in "fair to medium".
• The mascara is All Eyes On Me in Forest Green (shade 04). This is basically supposed to be a green mascara, but from what I've seen (I have yet to try it), it is more shimmery greyish-green with some blue, than a true forest green... I'm not sure that this is a great mascara, but it will be fun to try out.
• The last item is also by Essence, and it is a small packet of French Manicure Tip Guides. I actually rarely crave a French mani, but I thought that if I ever will, this could come in handy :)

That's it for this first part. I'm beginning with drugstore items, and gradually we will be moving over to high-end products as the haul goes on :)

Love,

Miss Diorista

P.S. If you would like to see reviews on those products, then please let me know!

Star Gazer - Nail Polish in Nr. 134

 Oh my, love at first sight! This polish is the most beautiful I've tried in a long time. It's a gorgeous blue-based bright pink, but it can definitely have a magenta feel to it in certain lighting. And the shimmer! Man, the shimmer makes the polish! I should even rather say glitter, since we have some glittery particles floating around there... so pretty.

It really surprised me how much I loved this polish just instantly (usually I have to get used to a new shade on my nails for a bit, before I start to really like it). Especially since it doesn't look that special in the bottle. But let me tell you, this one is magic in a bottle. The pictures do not by far show its full beauty.

So bright, so pink, so glittery... so ME!

A blurry picture to show you the colour in different lighting. This colour looks so good on fair skin, but it would also look great on darker skin tones, since it's so bright!

The formula was nice to work with and dried fairly quickly. I did get a bit of chipping after about two days, but I just touched it up a bit and it looked like new. Taking the polish off was ok - this is of course a very strong, bold and bright colour so you wouldn't expect it to go away very easily.



Product (65%) - 9/10

Value (10%) - 8.5/10

Would I repurchase? (15%) - 10/10

Packaging (10%) - 8/10

Overall - 9/10

Love,

Miss Diorista

The greatest weakness of most humans is their hesitancy to tell others how much they love them while they're still alive. - Orlando A. Battista

MAC - Wonder Woman

*fainting* :)

I haven't been this excited about a MAC collection for a long time, let me tell you that! First of all, unlike so many, I absolutely love the packaging - both of the products themselves and the cardboard (shown above). Second, the products seemed pretty and they had some daring colours, and last but not least... I completely fell in love with a few of the product names! Haha, MAC knows how best to draw me in :)

Isn't this just so pretty? Love the stars on the inside!



Here are the products I got, L-R: Lipglass in Athena's Kiss, lipstick in Marquise'd and a blush... I'll tell you the name later, just you wait! ;) *shuddering with excitement*

 Just wanted to show you how completely oversized the lipglass is - the lipstick is regular size, and looks so small next to the gloss!

Marquise'd lipstick. It´s a lustre finish, a nice nude-pink shade with shimmer. Nudes usually wash me out, and this one barely hangs in there, I have to use a pink gloss with it to make it work... or maybe I just have to get used to it a bit, this is as nude as I go! Love the star on the tube!

Athena's Kiss lipglass. Oh my, I confess that I only bought it because of the name! However, I don't regret buying it, since the gloss is a really pretty pink or almost lilac colour, with shimmer. Actually goes great with Marquise'd. And that wand is way oversized!

And now for the biggie... I don't know what the saleslady thought of me when I read the name of this one, shrieked with happiness and instantly bought it, without even taking a further look at the product :) Yes, I again only bought this because of the name: Amazon Princess!

In case you haven't heard of the Amazons before, they are (or were) a legendary tribe of women who were warriors. I completely fell in love with this Greek myth, and especially that of the Amazon Penthesilea, who in fact was an Amazon Princess. So quite understandably, I had to have this blush in my collection :)

The blush is oversized like the lipglass, and it holds two colours; a bright pink (satin), and the prettiest plummy colour I've ever seen (slightly more shimmery). Will be wearing those a lot!

See, Amazon Princess :)

And finally some swatches. L-R: Athena's Kiss, Marquise'd, Amazon Princess (bright pink, then plummy).

So what did you think of this collection? Many thought the packaging looked cheap, I on the other hand loved it. I mean, we´re talking Wonder Woman here, not Yves Saint Laurent! It's supposed to look a bit childish and cheap, in a fun way, and I think MAC did a great job with this collection.

Did you get anything from it?

xox,

Miss Diorista

P.S. I bought those items in Berlin, so they're kind of the first part of my haul from Berlin. However, I didn't mark the post as such... just so that it would be in sync with all my other MAC posts :)

The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart. - Helen Keller

Sigma Brushes - Haul and First Impressions

 The mailman must have thought that I was kind of crazy, jumping up and down like that when he delivered my Sigma brushes some days ago! You should have seen me... or his face :D ok, no, I didn't really jump up and down... but I did so in my heart ;)

I ordered two sets of brushes, one "Make Me Blush", which holds the classic twelve brushes from Sigma (in pink!), as well as a genius brush carrier which snaps into two brush holders! I also bought the "Synthetic Face Kit" (also known as the "Sigmax brushes"), which holds three differently shaped kabuki brushes, made for giving you an airbrushed finish.

Brushes from "Make Me Blush"

• Small Angle - E65
• Medium Angled Shading - E70 - (This is a dupe for MAC 275, which I love!)
• Large Shader - E60
• Pencil - E30 - (Great for a cut crease, but a tiny bit scratchy...)
• Large Angled Contour - F40 - (I love this for both my blush and contour colour!)
• Large Powder - F30
• Duo Fibre - F50 - (Comparable to MAC 187)
• Foundation - F60
• Concealer - F70
• Tapered Blending - E40 - (Good for blending, but I find it way too big for applying colour to my crease.)
• Eye Shading - E55
• Eyeliner - E05

 

Isn't that mouse just so adorable?

And of course I had to get them in pink! I did think about it for a while, and was afraid that it would be too pink and I'd get bored with it after a while. However, it isn't too pink at all, and I don't see myself getting bored with those brushes anytime soon! Pink is so much more fun than black :)


Brushes from the "Synthetic Face Kit":

• F80 - Flat Top Kabuki - Probably the most multi-purpose one of the three, but I mainly use it for buffing my foundation in.
  F82 - Round Top Kabuki - I have found this one great for blending in tricky places, like around my nose and even under my eyes.
• F84 - Angled Top Kabuki - I use this for blending together blush and bronzer (or just blush/bronzer, depending on what I'm wearing).



Here they are, in the same row as in the description above. They all feel very sturdy and are actually quite heavy. I've been really loving those since I got them!



And finally, Sigma sent me a gift with my purchase: A travel sized E25 blending brush. It's so cute :) I haven't gotten around using it much, but from what I've tried, it's a good size for my eyes, both for blending and for applying shadows to my crease.

Whew, 16 new brushes! I get overwhelmed just thinking about it :) And I love them all :P

Don't forget to participate in my giveaway!

Love,

Miss Diorista 

P.S. I will post reviews on those brushes once I've used them a bit more :)

In life, we all have unspeakable secret, irreversible regret, unreachable dream and unforgettable love. - Diego Marchi

(I love this quote, because sometimes, all those things combine into one...)

Giveaway from Berlin! (CLOSED)

It's time for my first giveaway, and I can't tell you how excited I am! Make sure you read the rules before you enter!
I chose those shadows for the giveaway since you can most likely already get high-end brands where you live. German drugstore brands are probably something a bit more new and fun for most of you!

The winner will get:

• 1 Manhattan Multi-Effect Eyeshadow in "Earth" (109N), a beautiful, shimmery, greyish brown.
• 1 Manhattan Multi-Effect Eyeshadow in "Metal Green" (89W), a gorgeous forest green, with green and multi-colour shimmer.

Both shadows come with applicators, are well pigmented and very smooth and soft. I actually couldn't resist buying a second set of those two for myself!

Giveaway Rules:

1. The giveaway is international.
2. If you are under the age of 18, you must get permission from either your parent or your legal guardian before you participate in the giveaway.
3. You have to follow my blog (it's easy and completely free, just click the "Follow" button to the right).
4. The giveaway closes the 25th of March 2011.
5. There are two ways to enter, you can use both or only one:

• Comment on this post, telling me your fave beauty product right now. Leave your e-mail! OR/AND:
• Blog about this giveaway on your blog, linking to this post. Remember to leave a comment telling me about your blog post with a link to it, so that I can see it! And leave me your e-mail!

Important: Leave your e-mail in your comment, but not your address (for the sakes of your personal privacy). If you win, I will e-mail you and ask for your address.


So that's it, I think I've covered everything :) If something is unclear, just ask away!

I hope you have fun with the giveaway, I'm sure having fun trying to give back to you all the love that you have given me!

Yours,
Miss Diorista

Depend Cosmetic - Cracked Effect in Red

Since I have yet to find OPI's Black Shatter here in Iceland, I purchased two "Cracked Effect" colours from Depend Cosmetics, red and blue (see my polish haul here).

I was rather pleased with the blue one, except for the fact that it stained my nails badly (I still have those stains!). This red one, however, I'm not quite digging... in the bottle, it looks like a bright, bold, absolutely gorgeous red colour. On my nails, it is so dull and flat, and has a "rusty" feel to it. Disappointing, to say the least.

The polish dries extremely quickly, but to a matte finish, so I would definitely recommend using a top coat with this.



Without top coat



With top coat

This one did not stain my nails, and the weartime was a bit longer than with the blue one. Getting it off was average, not extremely easy but not hard.

Product (65%) - 6/10
Value (10%) - 9/10
Would I repurchase? (15%) - 7/10
Packaging (10%) - 8/10

Overall - 6.5/10

Love,
Miss Diorista

P.S. I feel kind of bad giving those two polishes such low scores - so I will say that those are fun to play around with.

Being brokenhearted is like having broken ribs. On the outside it looks like nothing's wrong, but every breath hurts. - Behrendt

Weekly Gratitude - Music, writing and irreplaceable friends

• Thank you for the beautiful, beautiful rosy sky outside my window right now. I'm speechless.
• Thank you to my aunt for introducing me to a new type of fish - I love trying new food!
• Thank you to the musicians who fill our world with beautiful music and inspiring lyrics. Nothing perks up your mood like a meaningful and beautiful song.
• Thank you for my pens and paper - the beauty in sitting alone at my desk, in the middle of the night and in absolute silence, writing, is something I could never be without.
• Thank you to my friend for braiding my hair so prettily today :)
• Thank you to God for all the truly amazing new heights he has allowed me to experience in the last three weeks.
• Thank you to a friend of mine, for making me laugh and giggle every single time I see you!

xox,
Miss Diorista

Star Gazer - Nail Polish in Nr. 132

Isn't this polish pretty? It took me a good few days to get used to it, and I kept going from "wow" to "blah" with this... but I think I like it now :)

The colour is hard to describe. I think a part of why it took me so long to make peace with this colour, is the fact that I was expecting a plain, shimmery grey colour. Instead, I got an almost golden colour, with hints of grey to it, as well as some shimmer... you can even spot some green undertones in there, too.

So just be aware, that the colour you see in the bottle is not the colour you get on your nails!



Looking grey-ish with some beige and green



Here you can see the gold to it

As far as the formula goes, it is def above average. It didn't start chipping until after about four days, and it dried fairly quickly.

The packaging is pretty, it looks like a crystal ball, especially with all that shimmer floating around! Not good for storage I guess, but then again, few polish bottles are.

I can see this becoming a staple of mine... I'm already craving it again!

Product (65%) - 7.5
Value (10%) - 8.5
Would I repurchase (15%) - 8
Packaging (10%) - 8

Overall - 8/10

Love,
Miss Diorista

It's better to lose your pride with someone you love rather than to lose someone you love with your useless pride. - John Ruskin

Weekly Gratitude and I'm back from Berlin!

Ever been to Berlin? I visited over the weekend (which is why my weekly gratitude post is so late and I haven't been answering your comments ;) and the city is absolutely beautiful. I will be posting some of my favourite pictures from there (I took so many!) in the next few days, as well as showing you all the beauty products I bought (I bought way too much... you know me!). And I even have a small giveaway with two German drugstore eyeshadows coming up soon, so stay tuned! It will be my first giveaway, and I thought I'd make it drugstore, since most of you can already reach high-end brands where you live. German drugstore brands are harder to reach ;)

But on to some gratitude!

• Thank you to the lovely group of people who travelled with me!
• Thank you to God, for allowing me to return to home safe and sound.
• Thank you for the massive snow we received two days ago - I love snow!
• Thank you to the lady at the Benefit Cosmetics' counter, who was nicer than nice and so helpful!
• Thank you to God and my own heart, for allowing me to feel the presence of loved-ones, even when they are nowhere near.
• Thank you for the bag of m&m with peanut butter which is sitting here beside me... you taste delicious!
• Thank you to the special people in my life. I am who I am because of you.

Stay tuned the next days for a giveaway, as well as hauls and reviews - I don't know if I'll ever finish my gigantic list of to-write for this blog! That's a good thing, right? ;)

xox,
Miss Diorista

Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it. - Groucho Marx

February Favourites!

Yes, I am perfectly aware of the fact that every single one of my favourites posts begin with me wondering where all the time went... so let's not break that lovely habit of ours, gals ;) Where on Earth has February gone?! It feels like I was writing my January Favourites just this morning...

As always, L-R :)

• MAC Satin Taupe - I've had this shadow since last summer, but I never really understood what the hype was all about until this month, when I found out how amazing this colour is! I love this in my crease with just the highlight colour on my lid and the browbone, with a side of heavy liner... lovely!
• MAC My Highland Honey - this was LE with the Tartan Tale collection (Holiday 2010). It looks almost orange or yellow in the pan and I never thought that I would be able to pull it off, but on my face, it just gives me this beautiful warm glow (it's a satin finish). Haven't really been feeling the regular pink blush look this month, so this blush came as a breath of fresh air into my routine!
• Make Up Store, Tri Brow Color - I know, I know, this is in almost every blog post here! But that's how much I love it. I´ve been using it on my brows for quite some time (read how I use it here), but this month, I started using this as eyeshadow too - which works brilliantly! Those colours are the perfect colours (for my skintone) for just contouring my eyes, without giving me a made-up look, which regular shadows tend to do. Love, this is so multi-functional! Review coming up soon (though we all know that the word "soon" has a different meaning here on Miss Diorista than in the rest of the world!).
• L'Oréal's Volume Million Lashes - Really like this mascara, the wand is great and easy to use, and the formula works. You do have to be a bit careful though, so that it doesn't clump (especially with 2+ coats). And it's really black!
• The Body Shop Liquid Eyeliner - Nothing to say except love :) I've even learned to love the almost-felt tip this has, which I hated at first!
• MAC 275 - How I ever did my crease without this brush remains a mystery to me. I could do my eye makeup fast asleep with this one - it's amazing, just creates the illusion of a perfect eyeshape with a few brush strokes!
• Manhattan Eyeshadow Primer - love, love, love. Simple. I don't wear eyeshadow every day, and on a non-shadow day, this keeps my lids non-oily and bright. It also gives any shadow staying power and a satiny sheen! Review coming up ;)

And two non-makeup related things!

• Lemon Curd - Have you ever tasted it? It is basically a sweet lemon paste... which tastes divine on a toast with some cheese! My every day staple this month ;)
• The Big C - This TV show is really good. It's about a woman who finds out that she has cancer, decides that she doesn't want to tell anyone, and just sets out to enjoy life as much as possible. But it's harder than it sounds...

That's it for February, I hope that you all had the best month, and wish that March will be even better for you all!

xox,

Miss Diorista

If your heart still hurts, it means that you still care - Anonymous