If you could see both Astrid and me (Dorit) right now, you wouldn’t think that we’re beauty twins. We met a few years ago on a beauty forum, and the only common denominator was our mutual love of all things beauty and makeup. I mean, that’s a lot, right? If you’re a beauty junkie as well, you know how great it is to find like-minded folks that don’t see your love of colours, textures and looks as something girly, stupid and shallow. (But this is a topic for another post.)
We both love to chat about releases, products, and looks. We can both be found standing at a counter swatching for hours. For both of us, beauty is an endlessly fascinating topic – so much that we both decided to work in that area. But beauty twins – or ‘twinds’, like we like to call them here on Twindly? Not very likely. We’re as different as we could possibly be. After all, Astrid is Indonesian, with black hair and dark eyes and NC44 skin, whereas I’m nearly jellyfish-translucent pale (NC15), with hazel eyes and brown hair.
I have yet to meet a coral lipstick I don’t like, am nearly married to my BB and CC creams and highlighters, and love those barely there blushes in light pinks and peaches. My signature look is a wash of a complex eye shadow like one of the better MAC Mineralize Eyeshadows, or Armani Eyes To Kill, Chanel’s Illusion d’Ombres or their cheaper L’Oreal Infallibles dupes with a liner (no wing, I’ve hooded eyes!), mascara, blush and lipgloss and call it a day.
My fave lipstick formula is either completely glossy and leaves a slight stain behind or a matte that doesn’t feel like a matte (read satin). I admire those complex looks with five different eyeshadows and contouring, but honestly, on a day-to-day basis I nearly never encounter the need for that. More important by far is my search for a foundation that neither slides from my face nor accentuates every pore I didn’t knew I possessed and (dare I say it?) the holy grail mascara for my teeny tiny and straight (!!!) lashes. And while I look for easy and quick looks for my everyday life, I still own more eyeshadows than any girl could use up during her lifetime and love to play with elaborate looks when the fancy strikes me. (When everything else fails or I don’t know which ones of my collection I should use, I revert to taupe or gold every single time.)
My lipstick collection has a lot of reds and nudes in it, not because I wear those colours often but because I’m still on the lookout for that perfect red and the perfect nude.
If you’d ask Astrid what her favourite colours and products are, she’d say that life’s too short for having just one fave colour and product. She doesn’t really have a favorite color, because one constant thing in her life is that she likes to try out different things. Currently though, it seems like she has an obsession with red lipsticks! Coral lipsticks are a thing she still doesn’t understand :D.
She loves glitter shadows without fallout, also one-wash eyeshadows like Armani Eyes to Kill and Chanel’s Illusion d’Ombres. Normally you’ll see her with strong, vibrant and matte lips – her signature look, really! (She claims that she also likes glossy lipsticks like Mac’s long-discontinued Kissable Lipcolours, but pssssht, I’ve never seen her without her signature red or berry matte lipstick.)
Her short and straight Asian lashes are the reason why she’s always looking for a mascara that doesn’t smudge and simultaneously gives some lengths and volume. She has found the perfect silky and lightweight foundation that’s simultaneously is hydrating and oil-free in Armani’s Luminous Silk Foundation. (You see a trend here in brand preference?! ;-)) Its finish is slightly matte but natural looking and it doesn’t slide off her face after four hours.
So, that’s us in a (beauty) nutshell. Did you spot the truly astonishing thing? Skintone-wise, Astrid and I couldn’t be more different, but when it comes to looks like simple, quick eyes with another product to balance the look (either lips or cheeks) and products like one-wash eyeshadows with superior texture and complex colours, we’re true beauty twins. Love of all taupe eyeshadows? Check. Satiny-matte lipsticks ? Check.
So, weren’t it for Twindly, we would’ve missed that we’re not so different after all and would’ve missed the opportunity for getting recommendations from each other that will totally fit our mutual taste. I for one will give Astrid’s recommended Armani Eyes to Kill mascara a chance because she suffers from the same lash issues as I do myself. And Astrid will very likely look into Burberry Rosewood eyeshadow, a taupe I love and use quite a lot. Exciting, right?
We’ll report back!
