Queens day Amsterdam..ridiculously amazing!

It's that time of the week already....Happy Hump Day!!

Queens Day 2012 in Amsterdam was....well......ridiculously amazing!! There's no other way to describe it. As promised here some pictures of this awesome day filled with friends, music, sunshine and music. We got so lucky with the weather because it rained before and after Queens Day but on the day itself we were blessed with blue skies and 23 degrees, unbelievable!

Warning these images contain a lot of.....ORANGE!!!! ;)

I had the best day and have some amazing memories that will stay with me forever ♥

 

People always ask me lots questions about the Netherlands so I thought I’d give you all some (fun) interesting facts about my home country!

♥ "the Netherlands" and "Holland" are used to describe the same country!
♥ Why do Dutchies like orange so much? It's the name of our royal family the "House of Orange".
♥ The Dutch are the tallest people in the world. Men average at 1.84m and women at 1.7m. I am 1.74m tall so just above average for a Dutch girl :)
♥ The Netherlands has the highest population density (493 inhabitants per square km - water included) of any European country with over 1 million inhabitants.
♥ The Netherlands means 'Low Country' in Dutch. About half of its surface area is less than 1 meter above sea level and one quarter of the Netherlands is actually below sea level. When your plane arrives at Schiphol Airport, it lands 4.5 metres below sea level
♥ A large part of Holland has been reclaimed including the world’s largest man-made island Flevoland. This led to the Dutch saying "God created the world, but the Dutch created the Netherlands".
♥ With only 0.008% of the world’s area, the Netherlands is the world’s third largest agricultural exporter
♥ The Netherlands highest point is 323 metres high and is therefore called a ‘mountain’!
♥ The Dutch are the next biggest coffee drinkers – after the Scandinavians
♥ There are people from 200 different nationalities living in Amsterdam
♥ Amsterdam has 1,281 bridges.
♥ Because Amsterdam's soil consists of a thick layer of fen and clay, all buildings are built on wooden poles that are fixed in a sandy layer that is 11 meters deep on average. The Royal Palace at Dam Square is built on no less than 13,659 wooden poles.
♥ The Netherlands has nearly 1,000 museums, with 42 in Amsterdam alone and you can see 22 paintings by Rembrandt and 206 by van Gogh in Amsterdam.
♥ Almost every person in the Netherlands has a bicycle (over 16 million bikes!) and there are twice as many bikes as cars
♥ The Netherlands has at least 15,000km of cycle tracks
♥ the Netherlands still has about 1,000 traditional working windmills
♥ The Dutch love flowers; you’ll find a bunch of flowers in almost every living room!
 

Note the 30th April in your diary because it's our Queen's Birthday and the best party day ever! You won't want to miss it next year! I will be there again that's for sure :) xoxo

Smokey eye & dewy glow FOTN $

This is one of my current favourite night time looks; soft smokey grey eyes with a glowy complexion...

Products used on face:

♥ Bourjois 123 Perfect Foundation (review here)

♥ MAC Bronzer in Golden

♥ MAC Springsheen (blush)

♥ Jemma Kidd Dewy Glow All over Radiance

Products used eyes:

♥ MAC Knight Divine eyeshadow (all over lid and lower lash line)

♥ MAC Haux eyeshadow (blended into crease to soften the grey)

 ♥ Kajal eyeliner in Pure Black (review here)

♥ L'Oreal Super Liner, perfect slim - love this precision felt-tip eyeliner (link)

♥ Blink & Go Mascara (received as part of my December Glossybox)

♥ Jemma Kidd Dewy Glow All over Radiance (browbone highlight)

Lips: MAC & Marcel Wanders lipgloss in 'Julia'

The product I am absolutely loving at the moment to give me this 'glowy' look is my Jemma Kidd Dewy Glow all over Radiance Crème. I'd read many raving reviews about this product so I finally decided to add it to my makeup collection, and oh boy, am I glad I did!

Multi-purpose and versatile, Jemma Kidd Dewy Glow All Over Radiance Crème is a light-diffusing crème for lustrous skin. Wear all-over the face, under or over foundation or simply on bare skin. It has the added moisturising agent Jojoba to protect and hydrate your skin. It comes it two shades; 01 - Iced Gold and 02 - Rose Gold. I went for Iced Gold for more of a cold/golden glow. 

This is the product swatched on my hand. 

As you can see it creates the loveliest natural sheen; a true shimmer not glitter!

I normally apply the crème on top of my liquid foundation on my cheekbones, the bridge on my nose, as a brow highlight plus a tiny bit on my lip cupid's bow. You only need a small amount and the creamy texture is so easy to apply, I either dot it on with my fingers or use a small stippling brush. This is definitely my favourite highlighter at the moment!

I got my Jemma Kidd Dewy Glow All Over Radiance Crème for £17.00 online at FeelUnique.com (link) or you can purchase this product, or any others from the Jemma Kidd range, direct from the Jemma Kidd Makeup School website here. 

1 Seconde Nail Enamel by Bourjois

In June 2012 Bourjois will launch their new '1 Seconde Nail Enamel' collection. A few weeks ago I got a preview to this new collection which contains a new gel silicone-enriched formula allowing the polish to glide on perfectly, offering maximised contouring and an ultra-glossy finish to the nail....in record drying time! 

Check out the three lovely colours I chose to take home withe me...

From left to right:

N°13 Figue Chic; a muted easy to wear lavender

N°04 Taupe Classy; a beautiful grey, warmed with brown notes for an elegant look

N°05 Corail Féérique; a fresh coral sprinkled with golden micro particles for a vibrant radiance. 

The only thing is, I am not quite sure why they have called this '1 Seconde' because it's fast drying but definitely not that quick! I'd say it dries in about 50 seconds leaving you with super shiny nails and still plenty of time to spare ;)

This is N°05 Corail Féérique which I just love :)

The pigmentation of the formula is great; non-streaky and awesome coverage in just 2 coats.

The 1 Seconde Nail Enamel collection comes with a newly designed 'fan effect' brush that by pressing down lightly or heavily against the nail adjusts to its size and shape. Meaning one stroke and the whole surface is coated in a neat finish!

1 Seconde Nail Enamel will be available in 10 lovely shades (£5.99/ €7.99 each) ranging from trendy pastels, stylish reds and pretty soft nudes. 

Plus as part of their 'Sweet Paris' Spring Trend 2012 collection they also added two lovely new colours to their 10 Days Nail enamel range:

Left: 26, a pastel pinky-mauve

Right: 25, a spring pastel coral

All these lovely polishes are available from your locals Boots or Superdrug or find out more stockist information at www.bourjois.co.uk. So do any of these new nail polishes tickle your fancy? xoxo

I am back!

Hey everyone,
Sorry for my recent disappearance from the blog; life has been pretty busy! Last week I was away with work followed by a four day weekend back home in the Netherlands. It was that time of the year again for the annual celebration of Dutch Queens Day in Amsterdam. You can see some of my photos from last year here (link).

I got back to London last night and now back at work to catch up on the (many many) emails! :(
After three days of partying my body definitely feels a little broken so this week will be detox week; healthy food, exercise, no drinking and trying to catch up on sleep. But I agree with the below....

Which means the partying was all worth it because you only live once and I have so many amazing memories from this weekend that I will cherish forever :) I will post some pictures of my EPIC Queens Day weekend in the next few days. Hope you all have a great week. Happy Hump Day! xoxo

PS: The COR Soap Giveaway has now closed. Thank you for all your entries!! I will contact the five lucky winners this week so they can receive their free Silver Soap starter packs.