My resolutions for 2015

First of all, Happy new year ! Hope you had lots of fun (and champagne) celebrating with your friends/family, every excuse to party shall be grabbed! I was a bit reluctant to write this post, as I believe it is stupid to define a particular time of the year to move your life around. But there are a few things I want to change and why not do like everybody and use new year as an excuse/kick in the butt? These are some of the improvements/changes I'd like to make during 2015.

1-blogging : I only just started my blog, they are so many things I want to improve about it whether it is the content published, the photography (I need to learn how to use my very new camera,yeaaah) or overall it's design. I sincerely dislike the way my blog looks at the moment, as I find it very « amateur » like. The problem is I know nothing about html, how to code/design a blog or even get it done by somebody else. If you know anybody that could help me, it would be extremely sweet of you to tell me.

2-school : Reading is something I've always loved doing, but I feel as if I'm slacking on it at the moment, I stay glued to my laptop, and don't pick up my books as much. Same goes for my schoolwork (a post is coming soon about my experience in school, stay tuned for that), I don't work as much as I use to, one of my big resolutions fo 2015 is to get some work done (but still keep up with my blog) and expand my culture by getting back into my books.

3-sport : I had a few health issues in 2014, and unfortunately had to stop exercising. It was really annoying, as I abslutely love to work out. This year, I hope to get better and when that'll be, I would like to start boxing, try playing football, get back into horseriding, run a half marathon... just feel free and energized again ! At least, this year helped me realize how easy it is to miss something when it's taken from you (« oh you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone... »).

4-music : I'm currently in my last semester of violin lessons with the teacher I had since I was 6, as I'm going to move to England in the begginning of the summer, which makes me weirdly emotional. I'm going to try to make the most out of these 6 months, practice, play pieces I like, join a new orchestra, have fun and mabye give a few small « concerts ». Next year I also want to start getting back into my guitare, which I use to absolutely love playing, but stupidly stopped, descision that I now regret... A lot !

4-LIVE : Very simply. I just need to stop stressing so much, stop being so bossy and unpleasant to everybody, stop judging people so much, stop worrying about how I'm going to be seen by others, stop trying to plan everything, stop cringing and regretting most of the things I've done... 2015 is the year for me to be more open-minded, spontaneous, chilled, confidant  (allow myself to fail, to do thing imperfectly and to make mistakes) and overall easy to live with (I swear I'm a real pain in the ass sometimes).

That's a wrap, to be honest, 2014 has been a bit of a shitty year for me and I'm determined to turn things around in 2015 (because yes, I need to be a conformist and choose to act at the beginning of the year, like everybody). Let's just hope that these pretty words will last for more than two weeks. I'm thinking about doing a recapitulatif/conclusion about what I will have accomplished at the end of next year (see ? Planning again ! Definitely have place for improvement, hey ?).

Don't forget to let me know which are your new years resolutions, as I would love to hear about it.

See you next time,

Maddy

Beauty products I actually need to buy

I don't know about you, but a problem I often have is that I constantly buy the same kind of beauty products and end up running out of others. For example, I have way too many eyeshadow palettes and lipsticks but I currently need foundation, and know I won't buy it until it is urgent. So as a quick post, I thought I would give you a list of the beauty things I actually need to buy !

-A foundation: as said earlier, I'm running out of my rimmel wake me up, which I can't find in France, so if you have any recommendations for a medium coverage, luminous founation, drugtore or high end (it doesn't matter) please leave them down below.

-A new nail buffer bloc: as mine is getting extremely gross and fairly hard to use.

-An instant dry topcoat: never have the patience to let my nail polish dry and end up screwing everything up, that's when a instant dry topcoat comes in handy.

-A nail base : you can tell how bad I am at taking care of my nails, can't you ?

-A highliter brush: I have every kind of makeup brush I can think of, apart from a highliter brush, which is a bit of a bummer, really. Any recommendations ?

-Some eyebrow powder: Ok, here I blame ignorance for not buying any. I really want Anastasia brow products, but unfortunately, they aren't sold in France. At the moment, I'm using a mixture of naked and faint (which are sowly disapeering) in my trusty naked basics, and can't find another match. Could use some help again here !

-A new eyeliner pencil: my rimmel one is now tiny and can't stand having to constantly sharpen it.

-A peach toned blush: Again, I own every shade of blush you could think of, apart from a peach one, which I think would look gorgeous in the winter/spring time.

-Lip liners: I know I shouldn't apply a lipstick without applying lip liner first, especially if it is red. I have never bought any but keep complaining whenever my lipstick smudges all over my face. Spot the problem.

-Moisturizing serum ; as it is the winter time now, my skin has been getting pretty dry, and girl you know those dry patches aren't looking good !

-Moisturizing face mask : I only own cleasing ones, but feel as if my skin needs a kick of moisture at the moment so it's the time to stop procrastinating and invest in some decent skin care.

-body scrub : Prenferently a quite harsh wintery smelling one, to really get rid of my dead skins cells.

I think that's it! Hopefully I'll manage to go past the lipstick counter and buy what I actually need (I stongly doubt so, but swear I'll give it a try) ! Please let me know wich are your favourite products of each categorie mentionned, and I'll see you next time !

Bye,

Maddy

Favorites Vlogmases of 2014

Vlogmas is one of the many things that make me happy around Christmas time. I can't explain why, but I just love following my favourite youtubers around during a whole month. It gives me an idea of what a youtuber/blogger lifestyle's is like (super tempting) and leaves me feeling festive. When you think about it, it 's extremely sweet of them to share a part of their life, and bond with their viewers. These are the vlogmases? I followed and appreciated this year, most of the youtubers are already featured in my top 10 but I though I would give them another shout out as well as include some new ones.

Tanya burr:

I had allready followed and loved her vlogmas last year. Her bubbliness kept me feeling happy througout the whole month, she's always cheary and funny, a real sugar pill. Since she has a really « interesting » life, with a lot going on, her vlogs are never boring. Plus she seems to have such an adorable family (NO, I'm not jealous of the couple she forms with Jim...ok I am)

Sammi Maria:

I love Sammi so much I danced around my bedroom when she said she would do vlogmas. To me it meant brilliant OOTD's and outfit inspiration everyday ! And a daily Riley (the french bouledog, I have an obssession whith french bouledogs) injection !And foood ! Sammi's vlogs litterally made me dribble. Delicious !

Suzie: 

Suzie did a bit of a different vlogmas in the way that she uploaded 2 combined vlogs every other day. Her brilliant editing made up for the fact that they were quite short. I hadn't subscribed to Suzie before I discovered her vlogmas, now it's safe to say I'm addicted to her videos and have watched most of them. That's how good she is !

Zoe Sugg:

Classic ! Even though Zoe missed a few days, I still really enoyed her vlogmas serie. Again, she is sweet, super lovable and shares a bit of sisterly love (and many, many pug clips) in her daily vlogs. Who could ask for more !

Claudia Sulewski:

Another girl I use to follow and adore last year. Claudia got me glued to my sceen again this year, with her short but entertaining vlogs, her hilarious roomate (lexi lombard) , her late night snacks and sleepless nights. It was a bit bizzar to see how much her life has changed in one year, plus I have to say I was guiltely glad to see her mom again at the end of the month, she's hilarious.

That concludes my top vlogmases? for 2014 and I can't wait til next year's. Leave me a comment below telling me who's vlogs were your favorite, as I would love to know and watch them (come on, let's make december last and watch vlogas 'til february!!)

See you in a bit,

Maddy

What I got for christmas 2014

Hyde park blanket, It by Alexa Chung, Makeup organizer, makeupbrushes, Pc protection, Sephora nail polish, Sephora perfume dispenser, SonyAlpha SLT-A58,Lens from an old camera of my grandparents, Purse, Delicious chocolate

I do realise how spoiled I have been this year, I was really far from expecting all of this. It was insanely nice from my grandparents to buy this camera, I no longer have excuses for not illustrating my blog posts. It is going to take some time to learn how to use it, but I'll manage, please be indulgent. This was obviously THE « big thing » for christmas this year but I have to say I really enjoyed all of my other presents. The blanket is super soft and makes a perfect adition to my room, Alexa chung's book is as pretty as I hoped it would be. The makeup organizer is exactly what I wanted and is going to come in handy, so is the perfume dispenser. I have yet to try the brushes, they seem nice and soft and will replace my zoeva ones (link) while they are drying, I'll let you know how they go. My sis' showed how well she knows me by choosing the perfect nail polish shade (a gorgeous iridiscent purpely blue), so did my parents when they brought me my favorite chocolate of all time (lemon orangettes, delicious) ! Unfortunately The PC cover is designed for a macbook air so it doesn't fit, and the purse is a bit big for my liking. We are propably going to exchange both of these presents, it's no big deal ^^. Again, I cannot express how thankful I am for all of my presents, and how much I love my family (all year round really but christmas is just an occasion to say it out loud).

Now I'm going to take plenty of pictures and play around with my new toy, don't forget to let me know what you had for christmas.

Have a lovely day,

Maddy

Beary christmas !

That's it! Christmas is coming, I am feeling like I'm ten again, counting the number of sleeps left before the big present opening day. Thinking about the feast too, when I get my nose out of my dark chocolate orange. I'm staying in with my little family for christmas this year, wich suits me perfectly. Anyway, this was just a sweet and super cheesy post to wish you all a very beary christmas, I hope you'll have fun and receive lots of lo...colate.

Hohoho,
Maddy

My top 5 underdog artists

Today I decided to share a few of my favourite « underdog » musicians. By underdog, I mean very highly talented people who don't get the recognition they deserve . Now don't get me wrong, I love listening to « big » and well known artits as well (I could do playlists regularly if you're interested), I just thought it would be nice to share the name of those singers that the whole world needs to hear about ! I'll join a link of my favorite song from each artist, give them a try.

Michael Kiwanuka

Soft, broken voice, great guitare skills, extremely touching and relaxing, an all time staple in my playlist.

Home again 

Leaf

A (now broken up) ducht group that just instantly brings up my mood, their lyrics are great, their songs very upbeat.  Leaf was an indispensible track in my running playlist last spring!

Wonderwoman

Filthy boy

This group has been one of my favourite for as long as it has existed. Just... these lyrics! Please go and check them out, these Brits are absolutely brilliant!!

Waiting on the doorstep

James Bay

Now, this one is a bit more popular (thanks to Tanya Burr), but I think that he should be mentionned everywhere until everybody knows him, that's how good he is!

Clocks go forward

Nick Drake

Back to the 60's... Nick Drake isn't the person to listen to if you're depressed (and want to get better, otherwise he's spot on). His guitare skills are absolutely incredible (he was an autodidact), so are his pure voice and lyrics.

Man in a shed

I really hope you enjoyed, discovered new artists and had a good listening session,

See you soon,

Maddy

Gaming giants in Angouleme

Hello,

Today's is a bit of a different post, as it will be about a video game convention I had the chance to go to. Now wait! I'm absolutely not a video game fan, as I said before, they tend to make me motion sick. The reason I went was that my mum works as an adminitrator in the video games school (ENJMIN) in Angoulême and, since I was invited, I though it might be an opportunity to learn from passionate and sucessful people, even though I'm not a gamer. You could talk to me about anything, as long as you are passinate about it, I can swear I'll find it interesting.And let me tell you, the speakers were MONSTERS in the video game industry. It must've been amazing for the students of the school to meet such well known creators. I know I would give anything to meet one of the writers mentionned in my top 5 books (unfortunately, they're all dead now!). Anyways, the guests each had a different specialty : graphism, game design, buisness... which was reflected in their very different personalities, they were far from being the typical « geeks » that, to be completely honest, I was expecting. These are the the creators I had the chance to listen to :

Peter Molyneux (Britain), founder of Lionhead studios, 22 cans and creator of Godus : The chap gave a great speach, mostly about how to create/launch/earn money from a game and free to play/portable device games. He shared his experience of making the very sucessful game Godus, his mistakes, his successes... He was surprisingly humble, funny and very interesting.

David Cage (France), founder of quantic dreams, creator of (between others) Beyond  Two Souls and Farenheit : David gave a one hour long conference about his experiences on the road to becoming a sucessful video game creator. He told us everything, from the day he assembled his first tiny team in the music studio in which he was working, to the day he launched the very popular Beyond Two Souls. He didn't omit the mistakes he made, told us about his difficulties, his challenges but also about the chance he had to work with stars such as David Bowie, Ellen Page, Willem Dafoe... His career was great to hear about and super inspiring.

Thomas Bidaux (France/Britain), CEO of ICO Partners : This was more of a buisness oriented conference about choosing your platform, your buisness model... What was interesting was that, even though videos games were at the center of the lecture, the strategies covered were valid for any kind of enterprise. I learned a lot during this conference, and not just about video games (did you know that Victor Hugo was paid by the page ? That buisness model had quite a big influence in his writing).

Gary Carr (Britain), head of incubation at Lionhead studio : One of my personnal favorites. The speach was super interactive, lots of slides, videos...Gary was inspiring, friendly and on top of that, a brilliant speaker (like every single one I saw really). He talked about talent spotting, creativity and the birth of a project. I didn't get bored for a second.

Henry La Bunta (U-S), Chief Visual Officer at zynga : Different conference in that it was purely graphism oriented, many slides, videos, lots of demonstration. He insisted on the importance of lighting, contrast and overall graphisms, not only in video games, but in films as well. Even though I loved the other talks, it was nice to have a break from the buisness and « scriptals » aspects of video games to get deeper into the artistics aspects of game creation.

Luke Savage (Britain), Academic Development Manager at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe : This friendly and accessible guy talked about the creation of playstation games, th programming, platforms and economics. It was a very quick and precise conference, professionnal but still amusing.

Katharina Thielmann (Germany), Co-President, Head of Research - Games for Change Europe : This lecture was focused on the importance of creating behavioral games, ones that will make people think/reflect. Katharina being a teacher has a completely different approach to video games. Since her conference was psychology based, I really enjoyed it, she presented her games so perfectly that I now want to play them.

Jenova Chen (U-S), co-founder of thatgamecompagny, creator of Flowers and Journey : To be honest, my head was like a watermelon at this point, plus Jenova presented a video conference, which didn't help with my limited focusing abilities. It was still great to hear such a young talented creator talk about how he came to make his very unique video games. He did it all with the intention of bringing people together « in peace and harmony » as he said. I already wanted to play his games before, it is even worse now, I feel as if I need them!

Unfortunately, I only was present two days out of four, so I missed part of the conferences. But were also talking :

Tracy Fullerton (United States) Director - Game Innovation Lab, University of Southern California

Patrice Desilets (Canada), President & Creative Director - Panache Digital Games inc, worked on Assasin's Creed.

Eric Zimmerman (United States), Independent Game Designer & Arts Professor - NYU Game Center

Jurie Horneman (France), independant developper

Colin Walsh (Canada), Founder - Celsius Game Studios

Boyd Multerer (United States), Ran software for Xbox Console, founded Xbox Live …

Being the giants of the game industry that they are, I have no doubts these guys gave brilliant speaches, to which I would've loved to assist.

The inauguration of the schools new building took place at the same time as the « video game workshops ». The contrast between the passion and willingness to share of the speakers and the boring, self publicising attitude of the « officials » (mayor, prefects, government representatives...) was pretty funny. I enjoyed the second part a hell of a lot more !

Overall, it was a really enriching experience, from which I've learned a lot! All of the professionals had one thing in common, they weren't afraid to fail. They had an idea and followed it through to its end, not knowing where that might be . They also insisted heavily on the fact that mistakes are important, the beginnig of creativity and that if you are afraid of making mistakes, you'll never achieve anything. In conclusion, if you have the chance to meet/listen to highly talented people in any walk of life (even if you're not particularly interested in their speciality), go for it . This way, you might learn valuable life lessons, as well as mabye discover a new passion (I definitively want to get back into gaming).

That's it for today,

Maddy

Winter fashion ispiration

Just a few inspiring looks for the upcoming winter

Maddy <3

My Top 10 beauty/fashion youtubers

Hello,

Here's a fact : I spend way too much time on the internet, especially on youtube. Beauty gurus are the reason I got into makeup, trying to copy their looks. Today I really wanted to share nine of my favorite youtuby girls (and one man) with you guys, give you a sneak peak of my subscription box. They are in no particular order, I like all of them. Hope you'll enjoy my selection and discover new youtubers.

CloudyApples:

A really inspiring canadian lifestyle and beauty blogger. Not only is she beautiful, she also comes across as being really clever and funny, gives great tips for a generally healthy life (skin, food, happiness) and has a hilarious boyfriend. Her videos always make my day and never disappoint me.

Tanyaburr:

Let's be honest, who dosen't know Tanya Burr ? This little british happy pill is doing brilliantly at the moment, she has a line of eyelashes, lipglosses, nail polishes (which, by the way, I would looove to try!) and is currently writing a book. Her channel is a diverse mix of favorites, makeup tutorials, baking videos... Plus I loooove her vlogmas, super entertaining !

CutiePieMarzia: 

Marzia is an Italian girl living in Brighton, she has a very unique, anime/japan inspired, girly style which suits her perfectly. Her channel feels really « cozy » (is it weird to say?) she mixes top 5 (always very tasteful), cooking videos, vlogs, unboxings, hauls, tags and adorable short animations. She has the youtube channel I would love to have made.

Clothesencounter: 

Jenn is the queen of the edgy look ! Her style is nearly opposite to Mazia's, but similar in the fact that it's very original and well thought out. Now you just have to look at my selection to see that I'm a bit schizophrenic ! I sincerely love her channel, her videos (lookbooks, taste tests, favourites, « what would jenn wear »..) are quite short and to the point, but her personnality still shines through.

Zoella:

Yeah, I know very original huh ? But she is so sweet, how could you not like her ? This guinea pig obssesed, cute baby pug owner just released a bestseller « girl online » (which I'm dying to read). Her videos (hauls, favorites, tags...) are usually quite long and chatty, but never annoying or boring. Probably because she talks to you as she would to a sister, which makes every vlog seem personnal. On top of that, she does quite a lot of really funny/adorable collabs.

Gossmakeupartist and Gossmakeupchat: 

Only boy on this list, Wayne posts very short and professionnal (but not whithout personnalty) videos : reviews, particularly useful tips, chats… Great channel to progress and learn about makeup since this chap really seems to know his subject.

EssieButton; 

A really classic mix of hauls, routines, tutorials, recipes...but Essie is so lovable (so is her dog by the way). Her « granny » side never fails to make me laugh ! You just have to watch her videos, I promise they'll make you happy (and dangerously addicted).

Evelina:

Evelina's "fashion cafe's" provides you with great fashion tips. The unicorn changes her looks depending on her moods, making the fashion in her videos very eclectic. The content of her channel suitable for anyone who wants to spend a good moment and learn about how to assemble the perfect outfit/wardrobe. She also posts good makeup tutorials and has just lauched a line of jewellery.

FleurDeForce:

Yes, another brit'. Fleur is definitly a shopping addict, so if you want a bunch a hauls made by a girl with great taste, this channel is for you ! She never fails to recommend brilliant products and always manages to make me want to buy the makeup she talks about. Thinking about it, Fleur is one of the reasons I have an empty purse !

Beautycrush:

Why ? Because I'm so jealous of her hair. And her body. And her dog. To be honest, her videos are great, she somehow manages to spice up any classic video and to make it unique. Sammi is just the kind of person I would want to be friends with. Plus, her style is varied and it just seems like she could wear absolutely anything (me? Jealous? Naaah)!

It was so hard to narrow it down to 10 youtubers, they are soo many that I love! But here you go, don't forget to leave your favourite youtubers in the comments below, I would love to hear about them.

See you soon,

Maddy

50 random facts about me

1: My real name actually is Madelyn

2: I was born in England on the 4^th november 2000

3: then moved to France when I was 1 1/2

4: I have one little (4 years younger) sister

5: I've been homeschooled for 4 years now

6: Schoolwise I'm 1 year ahead (mental-wise I'm 10 years late)

7: I 'm currently learning spanish

8: I broke my left pinky nearly 2 years ago playing volley

9: I started playing the violin and learning how to read music when I was 6

10 : and I now play in an orchestra

11 : I can play a teeny tiny bit of guitar

12 : I am absolutly useless under pressure

13 : probably because I'm extremely perfectionist

14 : I've always loved reading

15 : Mangas and japanese culture were my obssession when I was younger

16 : when I was nine, I was part of a ridiculous street football team in my neibourghood

17 : yup, use to be a real tomboy !

18 : I'm a yellow belt in aikido (so watch out)

20 : Annnd started horseriding when I was 6

21 : But I'm super easily afraid so I stopped for a while

22 : I can do tapdance but not ballet (at all)

23 : I was the weird kid sitting next to the teacher during school pauses

24 : I hate working in groups

25 : because I want control over everything

26 : Pandas are my favorite animals,

27 : Doughnuts are my favorite cakes

28 : and tea my favorite drink (half brit' duh')

29: I'm much more of a dark chocolate lover than a milk chocolate one

30 : Can 't stand pissy coffee (intense girl XD)

31: I'm the « make my bed » kind of person

32 : as well as a big list maker

33 : I'm a vegetarian

34 : I Grew up having animals and still have 6

35 : I'm planning on becomming a journalist or psychologist

36 : I don't like romantic comedies

37 : Have never seen the titanic

38 : And never get scared during horror films

39 : I'm extremely sensitive to the cold,

41 :get motion sick while playing video games but not whilst reading in the car

42 : I do not believe in god

43 : and am very opinionated in general

44 : my favorite season is autumn

45: The (hooo so crappy) samsung player one has been my phone for more than 3 years

46 : I can't cut a piece of paper straight if I don't have a guide

47 : I' like silver better than gold

48 : France and England are the only countries I have ever visited

49 : One of my dreams would be to travel around the world

50 : I have a blog (and let me tell you a secret … you're reading it)

That's a wrap, hope you enjoyed learning the 50 randomly stupid things about my selfish self,

Maddy

Winter

 Winter is...

Snow, bresh of fresh air, winter walks

Fire, rare warmth, sweet candles

Soft blankets, books, tv shows and films, wondering minds...

Comfort soups and sweet potatoes,

porridge and baking,

hot beverages and chocolate

Huge coats and knitted scarfs,

red lips and pink blushes,

sparkling nails and heart.

Have a lovely winter,

Maddy

Zoeva complete brush set review

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Hello everybody^^

I've been wanting to upgrade my makeup game and « invest » in a good makeup brush set after using tart.com's crappy ones for a very long time. I was limited in the looks I could create because of the lack of good blending, crease brushes and of their overall poor quality. I thought about buying the sigma mrs bunny kit: (http://www.sigmabeauty.com/Mrs_Bunny_Essential_Kit_p/bblu.htm) but it was too expensive for my very skinnily delicate wallet so I gave a look at real technique's brushes:(http://realtechniques.com/) but they didn't sell complete sets and I'm wayyy to lazy to order each brush separately. Then I stumbled upon Zoeva brushes (https://www.zoeva-shop.de/), halleluja! They are affordable, have good reviews online (I can already tell you you're reading one ) and are sold in a multitude of different kits, going from 4 brushes to 25, 35 to 185 euros. These brushes are made out of a mix of natural and synthetic hair and divided  in 3 ranges, the vegan one, the « normal » one and the luxe one (there also is a rosegold kit).

I hesitated a bit between the deluxe complete set:
https://www.zoeva-shop.de/en/makeup-brush-sets/professional/luxe-complete-set/a-8000379/
and the classic one:
https://www.zoeva-shop.de/en/makeup-brush-sets/professional/complete-set/a-8000378/
, chose the second one only because of the buffer foundation brush,  wich I really wanted to try .

It cost 7 euros to get them delivered to France and they came in 4 days in a cute little package.

The 6 face brushes and 9 eye brushes come in a gorgeous faux-leather black pouch with a bright pink lining. You also are given a more simple, travel friendly bag to protect your new babies.

All my appolgies, these are not my pictures (the ones I took where just awful). The brushes did come looking exactly as shown on the website though.

The face brushes :

104 Buffer : This dense brush is perfect to apply foundation, it did a great job with my rimmel wake me up foundation (quite thick) as well as with my very liquidy naked skin. Gave me the perfect airbrushed finish I was looking for.

102 silk finish : Same as for the buffer, the density is perfect to buff foundation quickly and to give it a flawless finish. I like the precedent brush a tiny bit more, as it is denser and a bit bigger (teeny tiny gain of time), but this one is still great! I found them both much better than the real technique expert face brush, which just dosn't work for me (patchy face here I come).

106 powder: It is pretty self explanatory, this brush is incredibely soft and nice to use, it is small enough to really target the areas you want to powder. Again, perfection !

142 concealer buffer: I use this one to conceale my undereye circles as well as any blemishes I might have. It applies and blends concealer quickly and seamlessely, without making it look cakey. A very good surprise.

128 cream cheek: So this one is supposed to be used as a blush brush. Since I think it is a bit small to serve this purpose, I use it as contouring brush and define my cheek bones whith it. Ironically, it turned out to be the best countouring brush I ever had, definitely a successfull reconversion !

110 face shape: I don't know why but I was expecting it to be a lot bigger and was surprise when I discovered it in the pouch. I personnaly found this brush too small and dense to contour my cheekbones, as it is impossible to apply bronzer without it looking harsh. But I do use it to contour my nose when I can be bothered. There is no problem with the brush, I am just to pale to go for the stong contour look this was made for.

The eye brushes :

227 soft definer: Love this brush for blending, it is dense enough to work quickly and effectively but not scratchy (do not expect a cuddely soft brush though) and It makes such a big difference! A must have if you want to step up your makeup game !

228 crease: the perfect crease brush! It is extremely soft, of an ideal size and just applies eyeshadow gorgeousely. One of my faves, to the point where I ask myself how I ever did my makeup whithout it.

223 petit eye blender: Perfect to achieve a very defined crease and outer V.

231 petit crease: This one is right between the crease brush and the petit eye blender, it can make your crease look as defined or smokey as you want it and is the perfect size. Gorgeous !

234 smokey shader: perfect to blend eyeshadow on the upper lash line, it combines density and softness, Yet another great brush.

235 Contour Shader: The angled shape makes this brush very useful to blend eyesadow (again) in the outer V, the fact that it's thin makes it perfect to use on the bottom lash line as well. This brush has no troubles coping with very dark colours, not a must have, but still a very good brush.

315 Fine Liner: The only real dissapointment of the kit. This brush came whith a piece of hair already sticking out because of the plastic protection. Impossible to use it whithout the eyeliner looking doubled up and messy.

317 Wing Liner: I just made my first attempt to gel eyeliner whith this tool. I was expecting it to be super hard but the thinness and precision of this brush makes it relatively easy (bare in mind this is coming from the clumsiest girl in the universe). It is perfect to really get the eyeliner close to your lashline.I still think I prefer felt tips, but a nice intense/dramatic gel wing is nice sometimes so I'll get some use out of this brush.

322 Brow Line: this one came as a revelation, I stopped unsing powder in my eyebrows a long time ago but since I wanted to review all the brushes I had received, I decided to go back into my trusty naked basics palette and fill in my brows. This brush gave them a great natural finish plus it did it very quickly. I am definitevely going back to using brow powder. 

Annnd that's it ! Now ask me, are these brush worth the money ? Yup Every single penny, I would even say that it's the best makeup investment I've made in a long time. They are soft, precise, well made ,the pouch in wich they come is very nice. Apart from the fine liner which I couldn't really try, every brush was a hit  (special mention to n.°104, 227,228 and 322 which are my absolute favorites!)

I hope you enjoyed this review and found it helpful,

See you soon,

Maddy

My top 5 books (that make you look smart)

I've been obsessed with books for much longer than I have with beauty. Reading has always been an escape and something I love to do. Studying for my Bac, I have to read a lot of classics which, as surprising as it may seems, I really enjoy. So here is a top 5.

1: The stranger by Albert Camus.

My absolute favorite. If you are depressed, stay away from this book, it won't help. The way it is written is simple and to the point. The principal character is an anti-hero whithout empathy, cold, lost, just a human in all his ambiguity.

I read it in french and have no idea how it is translated but this book's pretty short, so please give it a read, it is brilliant!

2: Froth on the Daydream by Boris Vian

This is a bit of a marmitey « Love it or hate it » book. I found this book very poetic in its absurdity. The characters are sweet and lovable although a bit weird .Through this masterpiece the autor also gives a very sarcastic analysis of society and is decades ahead of its time. Give it a try and tell me on wich side of the yeasty force you find yourself.

3: Lady Chatterly's lover by D.H. Laurence

Yet another book so far ahead of its time that it caused a scandal and was censored then banned from 1928 to 1960. Again, the characters are very believable and are brought to life by the quality of Lawrence's flawless writing. It is definitively the most beautiful non cheesy, realist love story I have ever read (go on titanic, go back to bed).

4: Dreams from bunker hills by John Fante

The only book by John Fante I've read (naughty me) but I'm planning on reading the other adventures of Bandini (which are all kind of autobiographic). I just came to the realisation that the books I prefer are quite similar, no sugar coating, very true to human kind (likable or hatable) and give you the freedom to choose whether you like the characters or not. I hate Bandini. The fact that Fante has managed to make me feel so stongly about his character shows his talents as a writer. This piece of art reminds me A LOT of « the stranger », unenjoyable, painfully true, absolutely brilliant!

5:To kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

A gigantic classic that I read about 4 years ago and remember loving it! I'm really not the kind of person that reads books more than once (I tend to get bored and there are so many new books to discover) but this one I would like to read again. I remember it being very inspiring, it was my first ever « classic » novel and I was surprised that I did not get bored reading it . I think that it has to do with the complexity of Atticus Finche's character and all of the different  layers  and facets this novel has. Unfortunately, french students don't get to study it at school.

The outsider: L'enfant multiple by Andree Chedid

The outsider because it won't really make you look smart, or else you can be sure it would have been classed on top of my list. I mean it when I say that this is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. I was pedentically reticent at first « No I won't read it, its a kid's book bla,bla,bla »What a brat! Andree Chedid's prose is amazing, finishing this book you'll feel like you're in a little bubble of dreamyness (does that make sense?). Please read this incredibely touching novel, I stupidely think that if every person in the world read this book, it would make it a better place (hey Maddy come back to earth. See the effects books have on me ?). No honestly, it is short, you have nothing to loose reading it, so go and find yourself a copy.

That's a wrap, see you soon (for a top 5 guilty pleasure book mabye?)

Maddy