Why Pinterest is the new black

Unless you’ve been hiding out in the desert somewhere, bereft of all things social, it’s been almost impossible to avoid the rise and rise of Pinterest.

Pinterest.com is a pinboard-style photo sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, hobbies, and whatever else they fancy. Users can browse other pinboards for inspiration, ‘re-pin’ images to their own collections or ‘like’ photos. Pinterest was intended to become a global platform of inspiration and idea sharing.

Another social sharing platform you sigh? As if we don’t have enough to do keeping up with Twitter, Facebook, Tumbler, Google+ and whatnot. Social sharing sites come and go and most die a quick and quiet death, but Pinterest is different. And that is because it is incredibly visual. And people are visual creatures. We love pictures. Which is why Pinterest has grown 145% in 2012 alone.

But beware: it’s addictive. I have spent many a night glued to my screen, wondering where people find all these beautiful images and repinning, liking and commenting on them like a woman obsessed. Only to find myself with way too little beauty sleep  to get me through the day ahead. So don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Of course Promakeupstore has a beautiful, ever evolving account which can be found here. It is maintained by myself and the lovely girls over at FashiontweetPR. For a look into my personal favorites, check out my personal Pinterest account here. You’ll find my personal faves on beauty,  food, fashion, hair, behind-the-scenes shots, DIY and much much more! Check it out, comment, repin and follow if you like!

Please share a link to your own account in the comments below, so we can follow you and enjoy your beautiful finds!

Have a great day!
Monique

 

 

Read-The-Label: FACE Atelier Ultra Foundation PRO

Below you will find Dymphy’s review of the ingredient list, but let me give you some background on FACE Atelier first. I started reselling FACE back in 2009, and I’ve had the very good fortune and privilege of meeting CEO and founder Debbie Bondar when she came down to help me pull together my first appearance at The Makeup Show in Berlin in 2011. Yes you read it right. She came down all the way from Canada to help yours truly and I’m forever gratefull that she did, because I had no clue whatsoever and without her I would probably not have survived. Debbie: if you’re reading this: you are the definition of girl power and my inspiration!

Debbie Bondar IS FACE Atelier. To read more about her, the brand and the philosophy behind it (including views on animal testing (Peta approved) click here

The focus of todays post is the line’s star product: Ultra Foundation Pro. The “pro” refers to the packaging more than the product, because the same foundation is also available in 30 ml glass bottles for personal use.

The Pro version however, is housed in 20 ml lightweight, compact and unbreakable containers (shown below), made specially for the makeup artist on the go. Debbie lightens our load (literally) and we love her for it.

Other than that, this foundation is a staple in my own kit. It’s versatile, can be mixed to create every shade under the sun from white to almost black, and above all: it won’t budge!

Dymphy: take it away!

It’s a coincidence that Tanistates asked me to review a foundation – Monique asked me the same a few days before. Reader requests take precedence, so this post moved up a week and instead I reviewed the Ben Nye foundation and concealer.

This week it is time for FACE Atelier Ultra Foundation PRO.

Here’s the ingredientlist:

Cyclomethicone, Water, Glycerin, Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate, Polyglyceryl-4 Isostearate, Cetyl Peg/Ppg-10/1 Dimethicone, Hexyl Laurate, Cetyl Dimethicone Copolyol, Polyglyceryl-3 Diisostearate, Quaternium-18 Hectorite, Propylene Carbonate, Cellulose Gum, Nylon-12, Tribehenin, Lauroyl Lysine, Tristearin, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Propylparaben. May Contain: Ci77891/Titanium Dioxide, Ci77492 Ci77491 Ci77499/Iron Oxides, Mica Ci77019

Cyclomethicone is a silicone and also the main component of the product. It’s responsible for the smooth application of this product. After applying, it evaporates. The other main component is water.

Glycerin (E1520) is a moisturizer which was traditionally obtained from animal fat or tallow. It can be made by adding a caustic, or highly alkaline substance to animal fats or vegetable oil, resulting in the formation of glycerin along with soap. Glycerin and parabens are two of the traditional cosmetic materials that have been used for many years, because they are safe and effective. Heck, it is even safe enough to eat, the FDA lists glycerin among the sugar alcohols as a caloric macronutrient.

Although glycerin is a good moisturizer, it isn’t a very good idea to put pure glyerin or too much glycerin on your face: the glycerin sucks the water from the lower layers of skin to the upper layer of the skin. In a foundation, it softens the skin. In eyeshadows, glycerin holds pressed pigments together.

Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate (E1452) is a powdery thickening agent. It absorbs and can also be used as an anticaking angent.
Polyglyceryl-4 Isostearate is an emmolient/surfactant that keeps the formula together.
Cethyl Peg/Ppg – 10/1 Dimethicone is a silicone that moisturizes the skin (and doesn’t evaporate).
Hexyl laurate is a moisuturizer, and is a mixture of hexyl alcohol and lauric acid.
Cethyl Dimethicone Copolyol is a mixture of cetyl alcohol and dimethicone, which doesn’t dry out the skin, but instead moisturizes it.
Polyglyceryl-3 Diisostearate is a glyceryl ester and acts like an emulsifier.
Propylene Carbonate is a solvent and a film-forming agent.
Quaternium-18 Hectorite is a suspensing agent and also has emulsifing properties. Cellulose gum, or Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is a thickening agent that can be made synthetically or derived from plant cell walls.
Nylon is an absorbant and a thickening agent. Please note that nylon is a plastic and therefore not suited to be flushed down the sink.
Tribehenin is a moisturizer that is composed of a mixture of glycerin and behenic acid.

Lauroyl Lysine is a moisturizer. It contributes to the product’s texture by helping as a gel solvent and is very stable.
Tristearin is a fatty acid which has three tails, together with a head of glyceryl. It makes a great emulsifier.
Phenoxyethanol is, together with Methylparaben and propylparaben part of the preservative system that keeps the formula (texture) stable and keeps the nasty bacteria away. Those three are the safest and less irritating preservatives.

Then on to the ‘may contain’ section. As you might already know, Ci77891/Titanium Dioxide, Ci77492 Ci77491 Ci77499/Iron Oxides and Mica Ci77019 are pigments. They are used in such low levels, that they don’t provide any protection from the sun.

Face Atelier is a silicone based product, with a lot of moisturizers and some emulsifiers to keep things together. It’s a good formula, although I wonder why so many moisturizers are used.

Until next time,

Dymphy

Behind-the-Scenes April #2

Happy Monday to you all! 🙂

I have some great news to share with you! The lovely Debbie over at http://www.beautyscene.nl (which is our biggest dutch blog on beauty and all things beauty related) invited me to write a montly column for them 🙂 How rad is that? I love it and I’m honored! It will be in dutch but I will of course post an english version over here for all the non-dutchies to read also.
First post is already up and you can view it here:  http://www.beautyscene.nl/p/72593/moniques_column_-_hoe_maak_je_eva_jineks_look

I’m posting a screenshot for you to admire, just because I can haha!

Whoot!

The bridal season is upon us, so to inspire you: a publication I did back in January.

The inspiring view from my office where I work on the store!

Cute little piggy bank my in-laws gave me! Thankfully I don’t need to crush it to get to my savings! Too bad I’m in the picture lol

My latest food addiction. Double stuf Oreo’s. Ow boy.

That’s all for this week girls and boys! Tell me about your food favorites, and share your views with me! Love to hear from you!
Have a great week!

Monique

 

 

 

 

Behind-the-Scenes April #1

It’s been a quiet week with just the usual goings-on that come with managing the store. We did have to take stock and do the inventory for the close of the first quarter of 2012 and that took a big bite out of my week. Not a lot of fun, but it has to be done. And it feels good to have everything in order right at the beginning of the new quarter and not having to do everything last minute. I’m challenged and I know it.

Huge Yaby Cosmetics shipment came in on Friday and it had these beauties in it! Available very soon here for all your travelling needs.

On those rare nights where I have the house (and the remote) to myself, I watch @24kitchen! And I eat my favorite salad of string beans, cherry tomatoes, sjalots and tuna. Yummm. Funny thing, I made that garlic toast that’s going into the oven just the other night.

Nothing says Easter like miniature daffodils. so cute.

Animal prints NEVER go out of style.

Embryolisse fully stocked again for the Easter rush!

Everything looking pristine after taking stock! Yay

Please welcome our newest family member!

We are very happy to announce a new addition to our ever expanding family here at Promakeupstore.
Her name is Dymphy Goossens and she will be contributing to our blog twice-weekly on Tuesdays and Fridays!

This is her introduction post, I hope you will enjoy her contributions.
Dymphy has her own blog at http://nurchamielplusbeauty.wordpress.com/ and she’s also on Twitter as @Nurchamiel. So follow her if you like and here she goes!

Happy Easter (if you celebrate it)!

Monique

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Allow me to introduce myself: I’m Dymphy Goossens, 21 years old, geek inside. And, beware: I have a very, very dry sense of humour.

So. Who is this Dymphy you might ask? Well, the stuff that usually consumes most of my time is college. I’m currently enrolled at Avans (more specific: Avans University of Applied Sciences) in the wonderful city of Breda. Love to shop there as well, but since I am a student, I’m usually broke. Other favourite shopping cities include Den Bosch (my to-go place for Lush!) and Amsterdam (only because Backstage, Inglot and the KOH! flagshipstore are there. If those three open a store in Den Bosch, then Den Bosch would be shopping heaven).
You might have guessed it, I can talk about so many things that I’m quite inclined to go off topic. Ah well, back on topic. So. Studying. It is true that I spend most of my time on it. I currently study “Biologisch en Medisch Laboratoriumonderzoek”. Sorry for the non-dutch folks reading this blog, but there is no real english translation. Don’t worry, I guess that about 90% of the dutch readers don’t understand it as well. What I do at school is learning about (cell-)biology, work in the lab, spend some time at a computer writing boring reports, reading even more boring scientific papers (three alinea’s and my attention shifts to that cute little ninja dog on facebook) and at this moment, making cool 3D images of proteins.Yes, that is an actual research field and it’s called ‘Bio-informatics’ (btw: an other research field in the bio-informatics is something about pipelines and de novo assembly of research data). I love it because that means that the school is giving me lessons on Linux. How cool! Me and my inner geek love Linux. So, me and IG (inner geek) want to install Linux on our laptop. We just don’t have the time for it.Oh. Wait, this is a blog about makeup. Not for other geeks drooling about Linux. So, how did I end up here? Now, when I have some free time, I have some hobbies. I train with bow and arrow (Archery. LOTR made me do it), volunteer; performing first aid at events (I can be serious. I prefer not to) and somehow, I picked up makeup.Somewhere and somehow, my inner Linux must have crashed, but I can’t remember where and why I picked it up. Perhaps it is because I like pretty things. And pretty packaging. And combining my knowledge of ingredients, cosmetic chemistry and whatever else during everyday life. I have the feeling certain beauty blogs made me do it.One of the blogs I (still) follow is Beautytreat.nl, which introduced me to lip heaven: the O.C.C Lip Tars (pssst, if you love them, you’ll like Tuesday’s post). Since then, I’ve been drooling on Lip Tars. A € 30 coupon later and I’m the proud owner of three liptars: Clear, NSFW and Safety Orange. Me and IG especially love the pigmentation and the ingredientlist.After seeing the “Help us” article on this blog, I asked Monique in a very cheeky mood if they needed someone that could tell more about ingredients and the formulation of a cosmetic product. Given my background (yeah, I know, still studying) and love for makeup, it is an ideal combination.
I’ll write  posts for the Promakeupstore blog, where I discus the label of some products on Tuesday and write about a specific ingredient on Friday. You can submit ideas, products or ingredients for my posts, go to the “ask” page and tell me what I should talk about in a blogpost.

I hope to see you again soon!

Dymphy

Behind-the-scenes March

I’ve decided to start a new category of posts in this blog with a random selection op photo’s that will hopefully give you a peak into my life as a makeup artist and shop owner. Some will be personal, some shop-related and a lot will be makeup related! This first one is a collection of March events but I plan on doing one every week on Monday, so stay tuned!

My first Morrocan Oil order! I have high hopes for my hair now, so stay tuned for a review.

My makeup station half-way through a busy day of shooting! I forgot to bring Kleenex and of course 2 gas stations on the way to the studio were sold out, hence the Tempo tissue pack. Meh. This studio loves a good bikini babe though.

The long awaited first edition of Dutch Vogue finally arrives on my BIRTHDAY! YAY!      And look at the condition of the wrapper. I hate when this happens, thanks mail man.
Boo.

But here it is, and looking FAB! 🙂

My birthday started off SO good with these lovely flowers from my better half! ❤

Bubbles and bites at the beach with sunny weather and the one I love. Doesn’t get much better than this!

watching the sun set…

This just hit home with me SO much.

refreshing pick-me-up while working on the store in my kitchen instead of my office!

I gave myself a nice birthday present! testing is in progress, look out for the full review!

One of the new campaign pictures for Yaby Cosmetics, makeup by one of my fav makeup artists, Roshar! Can’t wait to use these on the shop page!

One of the pics I did for a lookbook way back in January!. Love brides!

Our living room before we decided to change it completely! Kinda nice now that I see this again haha!

Nice clean makeup station at 4.30 am, right before all hell broke loose. Too bad I didnt take any “after” shots.

New Yaby Pearl Paint tester unit!!

An oldie from back in February. The snow + streetlights + dusk is just.. magical.
This is the view from our appartment on the 18th floor btw.

Thats it for now, hope you enjoyed! Leave a comment or a question if you like! 🙂

Monique

Personal New Years beauty resolutions

I don’t usually do New Years resolutions because I don’t think just because it’s the start of the new year it’s going to make me more motivated than any other time of the year. However, some beauty issues really need to be adressed more regularly as one gets older. In your mid-forties you just can’t let it all hang out the way you did when you were in your mid-twenties, let’s face it people.

So here are a couple of things I’m going to try and be better about in 2012

1). Drink more. First of all, I don’t believe in involuntarily drinking more than 2 liters of water or any type of liquid a day. I do believe in listening to your body. When you’re thirsty you need to drink and that’s that. When you drink more than what your body needs, you flush out valuable minerals and vitamins + you waste a lot of time on bathroom trips.

I usually have gallons of black coffee in the morning, just because I’m a monster if I don’t, but I have been better during the day, switching from my usual cappuchino’s to herbal tea.
I’m even starting to like it. Well.. sortof.
So it’s less coffee and more herbal/green tea to cleanse more toxins out of my system. Oh, and I’ve also decided to make an effort to drink more champagne because I feel celebrations have been neglected in 2011. And we can’t have that now can we?

2). have regular manicures and pedicures. My hands are under scrutiny as a makeup artist, and I wash them a lot. Water is very drying to skin and it weakens nails. I have my nails done with either solar or acrylic and keep them very short and rounded/squared without polish most of the time. So what’s the problem you say? Well, I can never find the time to go for a fill and more often than not a whole week of ragged nails has gone by before I get to make time. Feet; well thats a whole other ballgame. I rarely wear open shoes or sandals not even in summer, but I do have to make an effort to go and have pedicures even though I detest anyone touching my feet. Given the choice, I would much rather go to the dentist than the pedicure, but unfortunately both have to be done.

So: make regular appointments for hand and footsie maintenance in advance. From now on there will be no more excuse not to go.

3). wear at least a little bit of makeup every day. Most people think just because I’m a makeup artist I would wear it myself every day but the exact opposite is true. I spend so much time working on other people’s faces that most of the time I can’t really be bothered to do my own anymore. So except for the occassional party/birthday/bash when I will use some mascara and concealer, I usually wear nothing at all.
Besides that, the thought of coming home late at night after a gruelling day of work and having to take it all off again, is enough incentive to stop me from putting it on in the first place. Laziness, I confess.

So: make an effort in 2012. Duely noted.

4). which brings me to eyelash extentions. A very good option for lazy people like myself who want to look bright eyed from the moment they wake up without the least bit of effort. Now all I need to do is find a good technician because I’ve tried them about 2 months ago and my lashes are damaged so badly I need to wait a couple of weeks before trying again. This time with someone who actually knows their stuff. Nuff said.

5). eyebrow upkeep. I’m trying to grow my brows back to their original fullness so I can have them threaded into perfect arches. Will report back in due time. In the meantime: step. away. from. the. tweezers.

6). upgrade skin exfoliation. As we get older our skin cells renew themselves at a slower pace. This actually starts at an age as young as 25, and by exfoliating you can keep skin younger and fresher looking. Right now I’m loving Paula’s Choice AHA gel exfoliator but I think I’ve reached it’s maximum potential by using it twice a day, so I need to look into some more heavy duty peels, and potentially a salon visit. Not my favorite pasttime, surprisingly. Exfoliating brings me to the logical next step:

7). wear sunscreen every single day of the year. I’m actually pretty good at this one already, for the face at least. So my goal is to extend that good habit to my neck and cleavage area (or whatever there’s showing of it at any given time) and my hands and arms. As we all know our neck, cleavage and hands show signs of aging quicker than any other part of our bodies so I will do my best to not stop at the jawline with my SPF 20.

There is probably a LOT more I can do but for now this is challenging enough I dare say.
Thanks for reading!
Have you made any beauty resolutions for 2012? Let me know, I’d love to read about them!

Monique