Project 2014!

My letter to 2014:

My thank you to 2013:

My dear 2013,

You were my wonderful year. I've made new friends whom I love. I let friends go, who didn't have my best interest at heart. I've learned to let go from my grandmother's existence, which deeply hurt and was most difficult. I've learned to create a new life without her, but carry her in my heart and thought. I've been truly happy and truly sad. But I lived. Stood strong and felt complete.
You were a great year, and I shall always remember you.

Love honestly,

Kady

I've mentioned to set new goals in 2014, and blogging will be one of them.
Let's go back to blogging! I'm so excited!!!

Thank you for the support!
xx

My obsession goes in gusts

Writing everything beauty can become uselessly expensive and boring, so I've decided to change my blog-name into a name which indicates more than just beauty and cosmetics. Projectinnoise became my ideal blog-name. A project is everything I keep myself busy with. This week I will shop for clothes, next week I will shop for beauty products, the other week I will shop for a future trip, or look more into new shoes, and so on and so on. Every week I have a new project. Then I once decided I want to play the drum, the drum is a good way for me to release anger and disappointment, but makes a lot of noise. So a perfect suiting weekly project with the drum in the background created Projectinnoise. I find this name non-specific, but I would love to write more about none-specific things to make my blog more personal. I am now still working on setting up the domain-name and the website to work. With two new books to read in between the frenetic days, hopefully by the end of this week my new blog will be up! This is my project for the week.. Wish me luck :D

Daily cleansing products

Although makeup is one of the funnest parts of the day, taking the makeup off is one of the most crucial parts of the day. Cleansing is a must, and depending on your skin type certain cleansing products may or may not be in favor of your skin.

Happy sunny days in Amsterdam

I am back in Amsterdam and I must say I am happy to be home. Where ever you go, nothing and nowhere feels as good as home. Because I have been gone for such a long period I had to catch up with everyone, going to family parties, having diner with friends, and going out to the park. The weather in the Netherlands has been awesome the past few days, I love it. Not too hot not too humid, the perfect amount of sunshine and a cool breeze at night. I have been back for just 3 days and I am already happy to sleep in tomorrow. But my Saturday won't go to waste, I need to catch up on school stuff and it's a good day for vietnamese egg roles. School started immediately after I set foot on Dutch soil (actually I was 2 days overdue) and I have done a lot since I got back. But it feels so good to get back to my daily routine.
I have that gold tan and everyone compliments me on it.
I love having a tan, it gives the advantage I don't need to use a lot of makeup. So what have I been using?

Beach essentials in Turkey

When heading towards the beach there are two or maybe three things you need to survive the sun with. Sunblock, deodorant and after sun. Sunblock and deo are the most important for my mocha skin. Aftersun is mostly not as necessary since I don't get sunburned too quickly.

Gifts and goodbyes

Tonight is my last nights in this wonderful city. I am so sad I am leaving, but very happy I chose to spend my summer here. Chicago has been nothing but good to me. Even the weather was amazing this year! Only a few > 37°C (= 98.6°F) days, always sunny, no thunderstorms or maybe one. I can go on about how much fun I had being here. But sadly everything comes to an end. I have been saying my goodbyes to my friends, telling them I might not be back for a long time. But such is life. You make a decision and then move on. And you know what, in the end everything will turn out just fine..

Only a couple days left in Chicago

Sadly my last days in Chicago have arrived and soon this whole summer break abroad will be nothing but a memoir. I will really miss this place, my friends, the beach, the shopping, the city, the foods, the drinks, everything. Chicago has been super good to me - the love I have developed for this city and how much it became my other home. I would encourage everyone to visit Chicago when possible, it's a nice city to spend the summer at. So many festivals going on, bars are open till 4 AM, clubs are always active, always an after party to find, Boystown is always being wild and happy. I think Chicago is a good real American lifestyle city. Far from the movies and also far from the dorky south. People here are smart, educated, friendly, crazy, open-minded and not-fat! haha..

Highlights in the city

Today's makeup, a hint of purple

Makeup makeup makeup. Every morning before I leave the house to get myself a warm cup of coffee or to go do anything except running, I have to do my makeup. I'm not really big in wearing makeup masks - I like to keep it natural and simple. Also the time-investment is a bit of a threshold when wearing too much makeup. So makeup should be quick, easy and little. But enough to not look sleepy.

A bunch of things and more

Last week I found a bunch of things I stored in my friend's basement after I left Chicago in November 2012. Two boxes were stored; one with clothes I am about to throw away and one with random stuff like purple Vans and some cosmetics. I remember myself saying last year that I wouldn't take drugstore cosmetics with me to Netherlands, because I can buy new ones there. But after opening the box I realized how good or bad some of the products were I left behind. I was really happy to see all the products, also because they'd give me flashbacks and memories from before.

The Lolla weekend at Grant park.

I still can't get used to the way my Chicagoan friends pronounce Lollapalooza. The O leans on the side of an A so Lollapalooza sounds more like Lallapalooza, and just every time I say Lollapalooza where the O is an actual O they respond with "what's that?". Funny how even in the US the accents are different. Diederik and I got our 3-day passes through a friend of his since the tickets were sold out in a snap. I love Lollapalooza, it costs quite a bit but it's definitely worth the money. And after a full weekend partying and one day recovering I can finally blog about what my weekend was about.

My first CC cream, review

I never opted for a CC cream before because I thought BB-CC what the hell, all the same no need to invest in a new product. But in search of a new BB cream I ended up with a CC cream definitely worth the investment. AmorePacific wasn't exactly a brand known by me probably because it's not overhyped by the bloggers I follow and not in a price range I would seize to. I did see an advertisement in the British Airways' High life magazine on my way to Chicago and the promising word sounded as if this product was a miracle to the skin. It looked interesting to me, but the magazine went back into the pocket at the back of the chair.

In and out the shower with Rituals

One of my favorite things to do is taking a morning shower to wake up my lazy skin. I am a morning person, I love sleeping, but when I wake up I am never ever groggy or cantankerous. So the greater part of myself that needs to wake up is my skin. Rituals has been one of my favorite bath and shower brands for a while now. I like the combination of fragrances they offer specifically in their bath/shower products. Though their products are pretty strongly scented I don't find it as disturbing as Lush (I love Lush, but not too much and also not all day). Rituals also has a line for sensitive skin which I thought about trying out since I've suddenly started reacting allergic to the moringa body butter from the Body Shop. Luckily the rash/eczema stopped appearing after I stopped using the moringa body butter and my skin also didn't react allergic to the other body butters.

New York City report!

In my previous blog I viewed a small portion of the products I placed in the bag to NYC. And now I will write about the products I've been carrying daily. Also this blog is a little about NYC, what I've seen, eaten and loved in the city. I've placed the pictures on Photobucket, scroll through them to see what I've seen. The highlights are written below.

USA USA USA USA

What's in the bag; The road-trip to NYC

This blog was supposed to be up the day when leaving for NYC. But things don't always go as planned. Especially when internet decides to stop working. Better late than never! Here goes:

I had a road-trip to NYC planned starting on tuesday. Driving from Chicago to NYC would take us (Diederik and I) about 12-13 hours on straight but we decided to go halfway tuesday and continue on wednesday. Road-trips are fun to do especially with fun audience. So I am (still) excited! We had everything packed; I baked chocolate chip cookies, made ice tea, bought carrots hummus pita-chips potato-chips and coke all for en route. That would do it I hope.
As for packing it's pretty difficult for me to narrow my luggage down to only the essentials. I wouldn't necessarily say cosmetics is the worse, because everything is a pain. But like I promised I was going to do a quick what's in the bag blogpost.

Yes I am trying to benefit

The day after I got to the US I found an advertising booklet in the hallway of Diederik's apartment. Ulta was the name of the shop it came from. The front page of the booklet was printed with bottles of shampoo so I grabbed it and took it to the apartment. I flipped through the booklet and saw some makeup labels I've read about in other blogs but are unobtainable in the Netherlands. So I knew I had to inspect this particular shop.

July 22nd the post-weekend humid haze

I've been reading status updates from people in the Netherlands complaining about how hot and humid it's been the past few days, knowing that the weather couldn't feel worse than here in Chicago. Friday was 100 Fahrenheit = 38 Celsius which calls in a stationary position in front of the air conditioner gasping for air. Temperatures above body temperatures are always disastrous; I biked a 10 minute ride from my home to Target ending up in a free bath of sweat.. I'm not joking, my legs and arms never sweat until the 100F + 100% humidity hits the summer. From what I remember summers in northern US are much tougher than we're used to in northern Europe so the fanciest things I've been wearing since I got here are hot pants and strapless. Fair enough not to perish from the heat.

So long farewell Sephora by OPI

The other day I made a stop at Sephora to check out the Bumble and Bumble curl conditioning creams. Unfortunately I didn't end up buying the Bumble and Bumble curl conditioning cream, but I did purchase some Sephora by OPI nail polish. I had never tried them before, since Sephora closed its operations in the Netherlands so I was really excited. The nail polish was 50% discounted and the rack was almost empty, but still I find some colours I liked.

Oatmeal Cookies with a little sumin sumin

I've always wanted to try making my own oatmeal cookies - though in the Netherlands I don't have an oven so I cannot bake things. I love oats, I have them for breakfast very often, but never have I made my own oatmeal cookies. I hit google search and with the help of +Allrecipes.com I was able to invent oatmeal cookies with additives I like.

How do I take my makeup off

I love the feeling of a clean fresh face. So whenever I come home from school or work I mostly immediately take my make up off. If the night is still young I sometimes wash my face twice, the second time with water only accept if I reapplied my make up. My skin is on the edge of being oily and acne prone, but the season of these conditions varies. During the winter my skin is dryer but a lot more acne prone, during the summer I have kind of oily skin or it's just an overflow of sweat ;)

MAC luscious kisses

Yesterday at Armitage avenue in Chicago I purchased my first Mac lip products. I've always wanted to try MAC lipsticks and we have them in the Netherlands but I never actually bought one. So I decided since I am in the country of MAC I might as well buy MAC here, agree? When I entered the MAC store I was welcomed by the lipsticks. Super happy and excited I started trying different colours out. Luckily the people were busy so I could play with all the lip-colours and the lipliners. I applied, removed, reapplied, removed, took pictures. Nobody cared. I was in my playground.

Salmon bruschetta; simple, easy and according to my diet.

I had salmon bruschetta once in Italy and I loved it so much I decided to try preparing it myself.
Bruschetta is easy to make, and mostly served as an appetizer. Although, since I started this diet it feels as if my stomach shrunk drastically; I can eat bruschetta as a meal.

Armitage's shopping monday and David's tea

 

There's a street up north in Chicago, Armitage with a few small shops and restaurants. I had driven and biked past this street, but never took the time to walk around the block. Fortunately I have more time to actually see places and area's in Chicago this year, because last year was all about work.
I wanted to purchase a specific lipstick from MAC which is actually what brought me to Armitage avenue. This shopping street is super cute, with all sorts of small shops like for example Arteffect.

Searching for hair care..

When it comes to my beautiful natural curls I am a narcissist. I absolutely love my curls. They are easy manageable, just gorgeous and I can throw whatever cheap stuff in them, they would still sit great. Although my hair becomes a little dry and brittle during the summer when the sun is out there and I go to the Chicago beach very often. Also I dyed my hair, so it's even more vulnerable. So I it is necessary to find good products for my hair, which brought me to Ulta a semi drugstore in the US.

Radiant skin with essential oils; acne prone skin

A friend of mine went to Hamburg, Germany this spring and got me all of these essential oils. I didn't know what to do with them for a long period so I left them in the closet but did take them with me to Chicago. I decided essential oils are such a hype these days, there must be something good about them, and took a look into their uses.
This blog focusses on oily and acne prone skin.

Today is in white and pink

It's funny how my blogs come about. I have a list of things I want to blog about and promised myself I will check these subjects off. But somehow I always find myself writing about something different. Todays subject is not on my list of things to write about. It's about my choice of colour today.
I sorted out a colour combination I actually never wear. White and pink...
I know there is nothing special about this, but I tried to find the meaning of the colour combination white and pink. I found: "in the language of flowers, a bunch of pink and white roses together means enduring love"
I could live with this definition.

Beautiful blooming bright bare feet

When I search in google for "foot care blogs" I mostly find blogs about diabetes foot or other foot diseases, written by people who refer to themselves as doctors. It is difficult to find information about foot care for people who do not suffer a foot disease, and the beauty blogs I read almost never write about foot care. Such a pity.
I believe that when beauty has your best interest foot care should be part of your interest as well.
Healthy feet are easy to maintain when you have a pedicure or go to Dr. Fish every month. But not everyone would regularly opt for such treatments, since they are really expensive and your feet would still require maintenance over time.

A healthy habit

I previously mentioned I was changing my food habits and exercise routine to get in better shape. It feels and seems as if I am getting to my goal. It's a shame I don't have a weight scale to weigh myself, but I do have clothes and hands where I can measure my size and feel my muscle weight growing with.  I love seeing progress in whatever I am doing. It makes me happy I didn't give up and stimulates me to keep on going.
What drives people to adjusting their food habits. Most people would say health considerations some would say appearance. In either way, the habit of eating whatever you want whenever you want is not longer in vogue.

Greetings from Chicago-land

After a full day traveling, transiting, being bored at the airport, being bored in the airplane, sleeping, watching movies, eating and carrying my luggage I finally arrived at my destiny - Chicago land. Since I already lived here, for a short period I knew what to expect. But I have never been so excited to be back. I was not surprised the weather in Chicago was much better than in the Netherlands.. I just hope it stays like this and doesn't become as hot and humid as it was last year.
After diner, a shower and a long talk, I went to bed and of course woke up way too early. Jet lag, I dislike you! But it's all part of traveling.

A lovely summer with Bourjois

The other day I went to the local drugstore to purchase some lipsticks from Bourjois after I had tried their Chubby stick. Bourjois had definitely become my favourite drugstore brand and I think this preference will continue. I love the colours they use to attract my attention and the quality of their products is worth the money.

Zara smells like

Today I stopped at Zara home, which is half a kilometer from my house. I was looking for a gift for my friend, who I still owned a gift. I had never been in the Zara home. But the impression I had from the store from outside was small, but cute. Once I was inside it felt so cosy. Blankets all over the store, little things like candlelights, soap bottles, cutlery, bottles for alcohol, bottles for sirup or water.

And of course they had home fragrances. A lot of them. Also fragrance sticks.

My secret Chanel obsession

I have a thing for Chanel products.. Which doesn't make me exclusive, because I think a lot of women share this obsession with me. Although I think my obsession is getting out of control.
I started with purchasing 1 lipstick from Chanel, which was 8 years ago. A beautiful pink lipstick from rouge Coco, nr 17 Orchidee, the colour is not as flashy - more mat and simple. I used it everyday untill I finished it, then repurchased. I love it and still have it although I don't use it as often..
A year later I purchased a Chanel nail polish, which was a simple deep red nail polish, nr 475 Dragon. Although the lid of this nail polish broke, I still kept it and still use it.
And slowly but surely my Chanel obsession grew into this addiction. I finished bottles of foundation, creams and face washes. Even if the Chanel cosmetics are not the best choice when it comes to organic and natural products, and especially not advisable to sensitive skin - I cannot stop. They smell so good, ugh :). And believe it or not they make and keep my skin super soft. Every time I enter the Bijenkorf (big warehouse in the Netherlands), Nordstrom (big warehouse in the US) or another cosmetic-store like Sephora I can't help but stop at the Chanel department (if this was whatsapp I would put the roll eyes emoticon).

This is what I have now.

Urban Decay Naked2

The Urban Decay Naked2 pallet

Although this pallet came out a while ago, I thought it would still be fun to write about it. I find the Naked1 pallet in colour nuance the same as the Naked2. Nude... hence Naked..

I love nude eyeshadow. In fact I love nude make up, simplicity and natural, which is why I opt for the naked pallets.

Veet waxing strips

I remember; before I tried waxing I was seriously terrified of it. I could imagine how much it did for hours. Yes hours. But after a long time thinking, doubting, rethinking, redoubting I decided to do it and now I am totally addicted! The first time waxing does hurt, sadly yes. So I would highly recommend to go to a beauty/waxing salon when you're getting waxed for the first time. Simply because the hairs are probably harder, ingrown and you could hurt yourself because you did it incorrect. Especially removal of pubic and armpit hair hurts. Salons mostly give creams and balms to calm the skin down after the wax and to prevent the hair from ingrowing.

But after a couple of waxing treats at the salon, you could also try Veet waxing strips.

Summer colour addictions

It's time for the season of colourful nail polish and lipsticks.

Here are my favourites.
I chose 4 nail polishes I will use a lot this summer (although I am pretty sure I will buy new ones).

a. May (535) from Chanel, which I already used a lot in the month may. But I love the colour so much, I think I will extend its use to the end of the summer.

A different subject: my diet, MyFitnessPall

I know the name of my blog indicates skin subjects only but I still decided to share my diet with you. Writing about my diet is also an inspiration for myself. Because I now have audience who can support me.

I decided to start dieting because this summer I am going on vacation the Turkish Riviera. This indicates beach + bikini. And beach + bikini = flat belly.

I started with downloading an app called MyFitnessPall. Although this would be difficult for me, because I am really bad in keeping food diaries. But I am trying. I like this app, because it helps you count your calories. Although it doesn't advice you with food.


This is what MyFitnessPall suggested.

How to survive...

I have been writing a lot about cosmetics the past few times. But now it's time to share my knowledge with you. In this blog I'll write about a treatment used for severe acne.
This is my how to survive Isotretinoin (Roaccutane) blog.

If you are not a user or will never use Isotretinoin, Isotretinoin is a vitamin A acid, which is used for the treatment of severe acne. Isotretinoin is mostly used for a short period (2 - 6 months).
This product is in most countries the last resource in the treatment of acne. It is very effective, but the last option because of it's side effects profile. An always occurring side effect of Isotretinoin is severe dryness of everything, like dry eyes, dry skin, dry mouth, dry lips etc.

Looking back; what I used in May

In the month may the weather in northern Europe wasn't as great as we expected. It was rather disappointing.

But it seems as if june will be better. So to survive the cold, rainy days in may I used products those could help my skin a bit.

These products I used daily:

For my whole body, I used shea butter from the body shop on a daily basis. I love the smell, and shea butter is really good for your skin. I have super soft skin, thanks to the body shop body butters.

The Hydreane riche I use because of my sensitive skin.

My saturdays diptych

Last week saturday I got this great gift from a lovely friend. I still don't know what the occasion was, but my friend found it neccesary to give me a perfume I wanted to buy for a long time. I am really gratefull for this gift. I use it everyday and every time I use it I smile :). I smile from the odeur, I smile because of the person who gave this gift. So exclusive, as is this scent.

One of my favourite bloggers #BlairEadie once posted a picture of her favourite products at the moment, and one of them was the L'Ombre dan L'eau from Diptique. Before this picture I had never heared of Diptyque before, so it drew my attention. I love perfumes.

The porefessional

I'm a little late with the Benefit hype, but I must say I like their products. I love that everything is so cute, with little dolls on it and special font. I haven't tried everything yet but from the make up I have tried I love the blush and the sun beam (blush in a nailpolish flask). For people with lighter skin the posietint is nice so check those out.

But my favorite product is the porefessional.

A week nail treatment

Summer is almost here and there's nothing more beautiful than having your nails polished and showing them to people. The happy colours and amazing art we can do with nailpolish. Just fabulous.
But the lack of sun during the winter, polishing your nails regularly, and using nail polish remover damages your nails terribly. At the moment my nails are so brittle and weak, so I decided a week nail recovery treatment is highly essential.

Needed are:
Almond oil or vitamin E oil
Almond oil hand soap
Handcream
Nail clipper
Nail file
Transparent nail polish, preferibly with calcium






A nail clipper. Why? Because cutting your nails off helps them restart their growth. I really like cutting my nails off once every 3 months. Also because it looks so fresh. Use a nail file to make the nails even and splinter free.

Sunlight is one of the biggest factors to keep your nails strong and healthy. This is why transparent nail polish is advicable. It allows sunlight to reach your skin underneath your nails, which produces all kinds of compounds for your nails, which in their turn helps the nails stay strong. Transparent nail polish is also advicable because it protects the nails from outside factors; like scratches, pollution etc.

One of the best oils for your cuticles is almond oil. Almond oil contains a high dosis of vitamin E and vitamin E is one of the most important antioxidants which helps the skin heal quickely. Use this oil twice a day, like for example in the morning before you leave home, and at night before you go to bed. Focus on the cuticles and the nail bed. Vitamin E oil is a good replacement for almond oil, since it contains only vitamin E (and some oil)  =)

Handsoap with almond oil helps to prevent dryness of the hand and hand cream makes your hand soft. Use the hand cream twice a day or every time you've washed your hands.

This is my one week nail treatment. I hope I my nails will be healthier after this week, because I have a lot of new nail colours to try out.

xx

Paris part 2

I decided to write a part two about Paris, because I saw so many things I would like to share with you. 

First day we drove from Amsterdam to Paris with a tour bus. The bus was comfortable, although I disliked that we were stopping so often.

Once arrived in Paris we went to the restaurant for diner. The diner was part of the tour, but we had to pay extra. The food was pretty crappy, and so not french. So I would dissuade the restaurant called "Panorama", it's in the area of the Sacre Coeur. Although 3 course diner costs only 17 euros. 

After diner the tour bus brought us to our hotel which was 25 km outside of Paris. The hotel room was super small, but at least it was clean. We unpacked and started discussing and planning the next day. What to do and where to go to. 

Once we figured out what we were going to do, I took a look into Yamin's cosmetics. This is what I found:

According to her the mat powder from Rimmel London is super good. It doesn't make your face caky at all.
She loves the Rimmel BB as well, because it doesn't make her face dry and it has SPF25.
The popcorn lip scrub from lush smells amazing (yes it does!), although I find it too sweet.

For the face. She said it helps hydrating her skin, and makes it super soft.

Her make up pallet from NYX. I tried the eye make up and it's super good :)

She had much more stuff, but I found these the most important to show to you.

We ended the night with cards

Before bed we played cards.

The next day our walk started at the Eiffel Tower.

I Love this picture. It's so clear! And only taken with my iPhone 

At the Eiffel Tower. My friend Yamin feels short :)

We went to the Sephora and found:

Those prices.. Those volumes.. 

This is a want!

I love the tint

This is at Champs Élysées:

Beautiful color combination! Only in Paris

We went to Ladurée at Rue Royale

At Ladurée. <3 Macarons 

Cute packages

This is Lafayette:

At Lafayette. Sorry about my finger.  

Parfumes

Cute ^^

Guerlain. Love the bottle, dislike the price. 

These are souvenirs you can buy in a regular supermarket

Cute book.

Tea

Chocolate

This is at a chocolate shop:

Chocolate art

This was it. I will spare you the rest of our pictures.

Thank you for reading/taking a look at my pictures!

xoxo