Products I use almost every day

I always start my make-up by applying some good base products. Like you will read in the section about foundations I find it very important to have a good base before putting the rest of your make-up.

For my eyes (to wake them up a bit) I first apply 'fast response eye cream' by MAC $31.- US. It's a caffeinated cream with instant effects. De-puffs, erases the look of dark circles, firms, soothes and softens skin around the eye. Special optics act like magic to fade away lines.

After that I use Painterly paint pot by MAC $20.- US This will fade any blue veins or redness visible, and is the perfect eye shadow base.

Eye brows is what I will do next. The very best pencil that I use over the past years not only on myself but on almost all my clients is a pencil by Clarins in dark brown ( 01 ) about $25.- US. The problem I have with most eye brow pencils is that they are way too 'orange'. This one is just perfect.

A white pencil I use directly under the eyebrow to give my brows a nice sharp edge. Just draw a line under the brow and fade this with your finger. Here Fascinating eye kohl by MAC $16.-

To soften the lines of the brow pencil you can fill in your brows with an eye shadow, and these are the best MAC colours for that: espresso, brun, charcoal brown or diamond dove $10.- US pro palette.

On my eye lid I always love to use a lighter colour, because this makes my eyes look bigger. The 2 colours I use the most lately are 'blunt' and 'snatch' both by Urban Decay $18.- US. If you don't like the famous glitter Urban Decay uses in 'snatch', I think you could use 'grain' by MAC (it's a bit lighter).

In the picture on the left you can see my favourite black too. This one is very very black and smooth (called blackout). in the picture below you can see the difference with MAC's popular Carbon. Carbon is the top swatch. I never use carbon anymore, it's just not a good eyeshadow, too chalcky/dry and just not black enough.

In the crease area I use any of the colours in the picture on the right. Doesn't matter what colours I use on the rest of my eyes, you always need a kind of soft brown colour in your crease to warm up the whole look. Especially when you use bright colours or colours like blue, aqua or purple; using one of these brown colours in your crease will make a huge difference.

The colours in the picture are; top row from left to right: soft brown, soba and cork. Bottom row from left to right: saddle and kid. All by MAC $10.- US pro palette or $15.- US bought as a single eye shadow. The larger eye shadow in the top right corner is a pro longwear eye shadow and is called 'Uninterrupted' $21.- US It's a dark Camel colour nothing like anything I've seen before, a very unique colour.

And Back to our white pencil again.. The pencil I love to use it in my water line to make my eyes look bigger.

What I also like to do with the white pencil is to apply just a little bit in the inner corners of my eyes and then gently fade that a with my finger. To set that pencil I use MAC's 'nylon'. You'll see, just try it and you will be amazed of the effect it gives to your look. It makes you look 'awake'.

Nylon is the eye shadow on the left. On the right we see 'shroom', and this eye shadow I only use to highlight my browbone. It's perfect because it's not too shiny/bright.

Where ever I go My hair sometimes drives me crazy! Like my skin, my hair gets oily very fast. I always try to wash my hair every other day, but sometimes I can't stand it any longer and end up by washing it the next day. I'm always looking for new products that work with my hair to keep it fresh for a longer time, but this has proven to be a challenge. The products I'm currently using work well fr me, so hopefully they will continue to do so (because out of experience I know that after a while some products don't 'work' as good anymore than when I first started using them.)

Currently I'm using 2 types of shampoo; in the left picture Opalis Crème de Shampoing Cheveux Gras / oily Hair. I've been using this for a while now and it does keep my hair fresh for 2 days

This shampoo is available online at www.beautyhabit.com and the price is $ 54.- US for 150ml.

The shampoo in the right picture I just started using, I bought it at the hair salon I recently went, and is supposed to work very well for oily hair/scalp. I have to say that the first impression is very good!

Biosthetique methode normalisante available at select hairsalons, for more information go to www.labiostetique.com

When I notice my hair is already oily in a day, I have the perfect product to deal with this and postpone washing my hair for a little while. Also for creating a lot of volume this product is great!

It is the 'dry texturizing spray' by Oribe. Spray the product at armslength on sections of your hair to create volume. This product is not cheap, but I have to say it is the only 'dry shampoo' I used that doesn't have that white/grey effect you get with all the other dry shampoos, and this one actually works :)

Also, you don't get that heavy feeling of having a lot of product in your hair.

Oribe Dry texturizing spray costs around $ 40.- US for 300 ml ( I last about one month with it)

For more information and information about their other products visit www.oribe.com

Skincare/primer/foundation

I have very oily skin, and this can be frustrating sometimes trying to keep your skin looking fresh and clean during the day.

For skincare I actually don't use a lot of creams/moisturisers because they can make my skin sometimes even more oily. What I do use and like very much is Lancome's Genifique youth activating concentrate. I use the eye serum of this line too, it's expensive but it's very refreshing and makes my skin look fresh all day without making it more oily. Genifique youth activating concentrate starting at C$ 95.-, Genifique youth activating eye concentrate starting at C$ 80.-

Before applying my foundation I use a primer to get a barrier between the foundation and the oils that my skin produce. The oils in my skin tend to break down the foundation I apply afterwards. I would always recommend using a primer before applying your foundation. It has a lot of benefits like evening out the texture of the skin so lines will be less visible, creating a barrier between your makeup and skin, evening out redness and making your foundation last much longer. The one I started using a few months ago is great and it has an anti-acne treatment in it too, because I get the occasional break outs now and then.. It's the mattifying primer from Cover FX - price in Canada C$ 38.-, available at Shoppers drug mart or check out their website for information on where to buy www.coverfx.com

I'm very picky with my foundation, and I usually don't use one foundation brand longer than 6 months. Especially the mineral foundations tend to get very oily on me because of their hydrating effects. Also the location and season has a lot of influence on what foundation I'm currently using. In Calgary it's very dry so I can get away with using a richer foundation, but when I'm back home in The Netherlands where it's humid all year round I have to use foundations that absorb oils from my skin.. I will list the foundations I like:

Currently I use 'Perfect refining foundation' by Shiseido, and it is my current favourite it doesn't give me any problems. I love the fact you don't need much and that it's very lightweight. Before this I was using Lingerie the Peau; a bb cream from Guerlain. This one is richer, and I have to use this one carefully, but when the air is dryer, and I feel like my skin needs it, I will use this foundation. Another one that is very nice is the skin foundation (spf 15) by Bobbi Brown (lightweight) or the Long-Wear Even Finish (spf 15) also by Bobbi Brown. The last one is heavier and more mattifying.

For applying the foundation I use the sigma synthetic Kabuki brush; the F82. I love those brushes and use them on my clients too. They give a great finish to the foundation, where a traditional brush leaves streaks sometimes, this one doesn't do that at all. www.sigmabeauty.com