a field of radishes and counting my blessings !

Hello dear readers (my, my, my... I am speaking to myself , nobody's here anymore...)

I had a no-blogging month due to some perturbations in December 2010. Hurray, it's over, let's embrace 2011. And what not to love in 2011 when you receive THAT !!!???

I won a give away (really weird, I never win anything, it's like a rule in my life !!!). But let me say something, when I win, I win BIG TIME . I had a hard time trying to make everything fit in the photo !

Stickers for the nails : I have a weakness in the knee for the "Camée" in the right. Have you ever seen such delicate and girly stickers ? I will feel like Keira Knightley in Pride and Prejudice whith those on my nails !

Then there is this amazing palette from Sephora , all sleek and compact ! But I am a tough cookie , I though : humph the pay off of the e/s must be poor (I am not a big fan of palettes). OH, dear palette, let me apologize sincerely : those swatches were made of 1 swipe and no primer...Holly molly !!!

Now, meet my new babies ! Look at that blue, that dark plum, this mushroom color : I must have died and went directly to heaven...I want to paint every single nails I have on my body a different color just to test them out !

Now here is the problem : meet my radish nails aka false nails....bouhou ! Because of me being sick all December long (told you December was crappish...), my nails broke painfully on a regular basis. As I had a voucher for a salon (courtesy of my latter employer) I decided to have my natural nails covered with gel to prevent the breaking...Only to remember, once I have the radish nails on , why I hate false nails : because they look SO false (yeah I am that intuitive in real life !)

So I guess I am stuck with a field of radishes at the end of my fingers for a month or so ...I need to have my natural nails protected for a while. I am starting the multi-vitamins thing to help them grow stronger and then bye bye radishes !

This fabulous color called : Chocolat irisé (foiled chocolate in English I guess) was offered by the sweet Lily along with all the goodies mentionned before. I say sweet because she added candies from my childhood in the package (not shown in pics cause already eaten !). If you like nail varnishes, just go and subscribe to her blog : I think she has swatches on every existing nail polish available on earth....

Dear Lily, would you marry me ?

Caro-radish lady xxx

Coming back from the dead and Lancôme gorgeousness !

I've been MIA for about 2 weeks but I have a good excuse...I have been attacked by a vicious virus (probably the twisted twin of the H1N1 that we were sick hearing about last year...)

I ended up fainting in my shower last Monday from fever and exhaustion. Sadly , I didn't do it with the grace of a princess : hubby had to drag me out of the shower from my armpits (Glamour , where are you when I need you badly !). Then he carried me upstairs like a prince he is, so I could lay down. I came back to life all groggy and nauseous just to scream that I needed a bucket right away !!! Yes I know the fainting princess coming back to life all rosy and flushed is not my cup of tea...

As I decided that it was not enough to traumatize the poor soul, I began quaking like the San Francisco area and did a very convincing re-incarnation of the Exorcist by having an hyperventilating episode followed by a very convincing spastic status. Let me explain : imagine the claws of an eagle, see ? I did the exact same thing with my hands but instead of having the claws inside, my fingers were twisted outside...Hubby was green ....He nearly call 911 but I prevented this from happening as I used to do that when a teen (yes love, you married a weird fainting lady !) ....Then I spent 3 full days bed ridden with hubby phoning every 10 min from work to make sure I was not climbing the walls and walking the ceilings to have time fly quicker....

So as you can guess no FOTD as I still look pretty awful ....but a little Lancôme pic can do in terms of beauty....

I received this mini palette as a present when I left my previous job. It came with a primer for lashes and a mini mascara (as well as a fantastic lipstick, a serum a nd a body cream, I'll review later)

I know what you think : Humph, boring ! ....but wait until the swatches :

Wohooooo, look at that purple : yummy !

I never bought a lash primer : my lashes are long and healthy (I'd prefer my legs to be described like that but hey, I'll take what I have ...). But I must admit I am completely bluffed by what this primer did to my lashes : They nearly reach my brows !!! Never say never ....

Caro- exorcising the virus with gallons of tea and some Kit-Kat (not very efficient , I must say but pretty good !) xxx

I am relieved OOTD

This blog is about :

-improving my English skills

-talking about make up and a little bit of fashion

So tadaaaaaaa today, I'll play synonyms to fulfill the 1st goal of this blog

Caro had an horrendous day at her job

Caro had a dreadful week at her job

Caro had a terrible month at her job

Caro quited her job and is ready for new adventures, now ! Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaa

To the outfit :

brown turtleneck bought in France while on vacation : Cache-cache

beige kaki pants : Joe Fresh in sale for 9$

Leopard shoes : Franco Sarto in sale too for 49$99 (let's get precise !)

Funky jewelry : gift from mother in law

Camel jacket bought at Zara in Paris (I am SOOOOOOO fancy !) : in sale , a long time ago...So I can't remember the price ....be nice, I am an old lady, my memory is not what it used to be ...

Aldo hat : 3$98 (I told you I'd be precise !)

Bad ass attitude resulting in quiting job : priceless !

Caro-quitter for the sake of her mental state xxx

PS : just to give me a boost of ego : Do you , English people, understand a single word of what I write ? Or do you just watch pics and wonder "who the BEEP is that weird girl ?"

PS II : You'll notice that I start to use slang words ...Is it a clue that my English is improving ?

PS III : Isabelle and Virginie, if you read those lines, the package you sent me was the joy of my ultimately shitty week ! (see again ! forbidden words...I am definitively fluent ....)

NOTD : sparkles and ring finger mani

I need sparkles, I need Barbie nails, I need a funky mani : Yes, I want it all !

In natural light : Revlon scented polish in Grape Icy as a base for all fingers. It's a sheer purple leaning on the pink side.

With Flash : on the ring finger, Sally Hansen Xtreme wear in Strobe light just for fun !

I am really so happy with the staying power of the Revlon nail polishes : they don't chip, they don't flake. They stay put for a good 3 days without looking bad (I hate an old looking mani)

Caro-back in the nail game xxx

Panache EOTD : Amethyst beauty !

Amethyst pigment (Marcelle minerals) was the one that I loved the more when I swatched it at the warehouse sale last week...It was the one responsible for my failure in the partial make up ban (One simple rule to that ban : Do NOT buy e/s anymore...easy...I ended up buying the pigment in the 6 shades available...if falling, let's just fail with "panache" !)

Quote from Wikipedia : Panache is a word of French origin that carries the connotation of a flamboyant manner and reckless courage

The daylight pic doesn't do justice to the gorgeousness of that pigment : a light purple pigment with a pink hue. I also used Snow pigment in the inner corner...

To give depth to the look I used the dark purple from the W&W Lust palette in the crease and the matte black in the outer V.

The flash picks the sparkles better ....

Mascara : Marcelle Volume precision in black

Liner : a mix between Vortex Violet smoothliner (Annabelle) and Feline khol liner (MAC)

Caro-musketeer of the make up world xxx

Silver pigment from Marcelle : EOTD and Modcloth gorgeousness !

EOTD :

Inner corner : Snow from Marcelle minerals

Lid : Silver from Marcelle minerals

Outer V and crease : shimmery black from the Greed palette (Wet & Wild)

On waterline : Feline eye khôl from MAC

Mascara volume precision from Marcelle in black

Sparkles : awwwwwww, beautiful

in case you missed the awesomeness of that silver : a last pic !

I used Painterly paint pot (MAC) as a primer and Milk Jumbo pencil (NYX) as a base color.

OOTD :

Part 1 :

Un-Twill we meet again dress from Modcloth . That dress is love ...

Part 2 : the color kick !

Red patent belt : Tommy Hilfiger

Red chunky shoes : so old I can't remember where I bought them, the label is erased on the sole...

Red jewelry : Casa Luca

Part 3 : Tights: Spanx in charcoal found at Winners. those are working so well to improve your figure without making you feel like a sausage ...

Part 4 : showing a little bit of a black bra : AGRRRRRRRRRR !

Caro-mad woman xxx

The summer OOTD and Sydney's bun

As I said before, girls in blogs inspire me SO much. I saw them wearing summer dresses with tights so I decided to give it a go !

White cotton jacket : from Joe Fresh. I wore it all summer over my swimsuit. Recycling !

Red patent belt : Tommy Hilfiger
H & M floral red dress bought a 100 years ago

big white over the knee socks : Winners

Caramel boots : Sirens

And this is me ! Showing proudly my 1st attempt to a Sydney bun. I received tons of compliments for this bad boy ...I will be eternally in her debt for that !

Caro xxx

PS : Everybody in the blogosphere is doing the 30 for 30. I can't commit to such a task but I have decided that each time I wore an item from my wardrobe, I will put it away. So I'll have to use my whole closet instead of just always wearing the same stuff....Re-interpretation of the 30 for 30 if you want ...