From Germany to Sicily to Shanghai, this month’s favourites cover not only our best-loved and most used beauty products in April, but also both Astrid’s and mine recently discovered favourite spots to hang out in our respective cities!
Dorit’s April beauty favourites and favourite hangout places
Eyes eyes eyes – it’s allllll about the eyes, baby! At least my monthly favourites are, and who doesn’t love a makeup look with a great eye? I know I do! I think playing with different shadows and liners actually is my favourite part of doing my makeup.
Inglot Eyeshadow (matte) in 303
When I met up with Astrid while I was in Germany in March, we naturally checked out Hannover’s Inglot store. I’ve never been in a physical Inglot store, and so there was much exploring, swatching, debating and deciding. I finally settled on a terra-cotta coloured matte single eyeshadow, and it’s magical. It has easily the best texture I’ve ever encountered in a matte shadow. So smooth, so blendable, non-dusty, ah!!!! I love to use it in every neutral or red eye look I’ve done lately, and now I want more. (8€, available on their website)
Makeupgeek Duochrome Eyeshadow in Secret Garden
One of my wonderful and makeup-loving friends back in Germany gave me this little single eyeshadow when we met, and I was entranced. It’s my first MUG product, even though I used to watch Marlena’s youtube channel (MUG’s founder) religiously when it first started and I got seriously interested in makeup. Anyways, Secret Garden shifts between reddish brown and a tealish green with its base colour looking a bit like the Inglot shadow, although it has a frost finish. Both of them combined yield a very pretty look with a little extra thanks to the duochrome, The formula of Secret Garden is very good as well – no fallout, very creamy, easy to apply and longlasting over my usual eye primer (Nars). If you want to strengthen the duo chrome effect, I’d advise to put a dark base underneath it. (6,10€/6$, available at their website or at Beautybay for the Europeans)
Essence the cushion eyeliner
Since I’m completely besotted with Korean beauty products, I absolutely had to buy the cushion eyeliner from German drugstore brand essence. It’s basically a sponge in a pot that’s saturated with eyeliner liquid. It’s very easy to apply – take your favourite liner brush (mine is an old one from Alverde), dip it into the sponge and draw your line. The liquid is very very easy to control – you won’t end up with having too much or too little on your brush – and very very shiny and black. It’s also cheap as chips. I’m curious to see how long it takes until the sponge dries out, but right now it’s awesome. It also doesn’t transfer once on your lids (it’s not waterproof, though). (2,99€ at drugstores)
Favourite spot you discovered lately?
I finally made it to Shanghai’s M50. A former mill and factory (M50 is short for the adress, No. 50 Moganshan Road), around 2000 artists moved into the derelict buildings and converted them into ateliers. There’s now a lot of galleries and little cafés to spend the whole day in. My favourite gallery was Lui Dao (Island Six), an art collective that combines Eastern and Western influences, paintings and installations into a stunning outcome. Have a look at their ‘paintings on their website and believe me, they’re much more impressive when you see them in real life! Anyways, it’s such a gem in a mega city like Shanghai and very much worth a visit.
Astrid’s April beauty favourites and favourite hangout places
Not sure if it’s because the spring hasn’t fully arrived in Berlin yet, or because I’m just so longing for it, my favorites this month seemed to be all about the spring (or the feeling of spring!)!
Fragonard Parfumeur Eau de toilette Mademoiselle Amour
I’m delightfully surprised by this scent. It has a pretty strong fruity thing going on, a mix of tangerine, strawberries, and apple, with a hint of jasmine. A very dear friend gifted me this from Southern France. It’s not something I would usually pick out in a perfume, but I’m really glad she did! The smell somehow brings me joy in this dreary Berlin April weather! You can get it(very reasonably priced for 17€ for 50ml) here. Fragonard is a fascinating perfume house – it started as perfumery in Grasse (France) in 1926. Today it’s still a family business of perfumers who branched out from selling perfumes to making them.
Clarins Joli Baume Eclat du Jour
It’s a fancy lip balm that’s really good! I might be partial to its peachy smell, but you can see from the picture that it does its job for enhancing the natural lip colour. On top of that, it’s also very moisturizing without being too sticky or oily, due to the amount of both shea and cocoa butter in its formula. That’s one lip balm I’m always happy to keep in my bag. Holy Grail! This one with the cute packaging was limited edition, but nevertheless, you can always pick it up in it’s usual lipstick casing. Find it here. (12€)
Lancome Matte Shaker in Pink Power
When Dorit wrote the raving review of this cute little thing (plus the reasonable price point), I knew I had to give it a try. Lancome is quite easy to find in a Duty Free shop, so when I was on my way to Palermo, I picked this baby up at the airport. On my complexion, a best bet for a matte is always a darker bright color. And since I didn’t have that much time to shop, I picked this one up. Hot pink FTW! I love the color for that extra brightness. I agree that the texture is so delightful to wear, and at least with this shade, it doesn’t transfer! So it’s kiss-proof and perfect for a romantic getaway!
Favorite Spot You’ve Discovered Lately
I live in Charlottenburg area in Berlin. It’s a quieter neighborhood, not as vibrant and hip as Mitte, Kreuzberg, or Neukölln, but I like it here most days. What I’m missing most, though, is a damn good cup of coffee. I’m addicted to those third wave coffee places, where the drip coffee is made with slow perfection, and the flat white is made with a perfectly smooth yet thin layer of milk. Needless to say I was excited when The Barn opened a branch in the formerly known (very old and very famous) Café Kranzler in Ku’damm. It’s a great location on the second floor with almost 360 degrees view over Ku’damm and Zoo. I can’t wait until it’s really warm enough to sit outside. (Find it here.) Come on May, you can do this!
