Category Archives: Beauty

BB, CC, DD… The mystery creams uncovered!

by TheModernCool Posted on May 15, 2013

woman-applying-foundation-in-mirror

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It all started off with BBs, soon enough we could spot CCs and now a DD. All cool, but what on earth does it mean? And how is it different from a regular moisturizer?

Well, it is not all that complicated once we know what the letters stands for:

BB creams

BB stands for ‘blemish balm’ and is exactly that: a light everyday moisturizer with a hint of color added to smoothen out your complexion. Usually comes with sun block and vitamins. I tend to use it on a day off instead of a foundation, to let my skin breathe and still look flawless.

 

Best BB creams

Bobbi Brown Cosmetics creme foundation, £27 / Clinique camouflage makeup, £24 / Christian Dior nude cosmetic, £29 / Lancôme , £49 / Shiseido beauty product, £21

 

CC creams

CC is about ‘color correction’ and it is a step forward from BB to tackle specific problems such as redness. Still lighter than foundation and has all the benefits of a moisturizer  but it gives a bit more coverage.

 

CC creams

Smashbox dark makeup, £27 / Clinique , £23 / Sephora Collection beauty product, £17

 

DD creams

These are only just coming out now and are supposed to be ‘dynamic do-all’s – whatever that means!

DD cream Julep

The truth is that BB, CC and DD creams are all similar – different creams are meant to tackle diverse problems:

Estee Lauder and Garnier – skin softening
Clinique and Dior – coverage
Bobbi Brown – wrinkles
Olay and Dior Diorsnow – skin lightening

but it is all theory – as with regular moisturizers you just need to try out a few (feel free to ask for samples at the counters!) and choose the right one for you.

Love xx
Magdalena

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cc cream chanel campaign

by Magdalena Twardowska
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Be my Valentine

by TheModernCool Posted on February 13, 2013

linght pink make up

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Valentine’s Day is tomorrow (like you didn’t know… ;) ) and I bet half of you are agonising over what to wear and make up! Whether you are going for first date, 2637th date, girly night out or just hang out with friends, I recommend you go for natural beauty. Nothing worse than accidentally having ‘desperate’ painted on your face!

natural look

Tip 1: Easy on the eye liner! You can do Egyptian goddess on the 15th…

cameron diaz natural make up

natural beauty make up

Tip 2: Instead of bright red, opt for light pink or peach lips

emma stone natural make up

tauper pink lips

Tip 3: When it comes to nails, bright colours are ok, although you might want to swap caviar nails for a polished-to-perfection mani.

glossy plum nails

glossy wine nails

Tip 4: Invest in a good foundation: you will feel confident about your skin and more relaxed!

natural make up

naked look make up

Tips 5: For your cat eye, go for gold, light brown and nude instead of black. Your make up will look more fresh and effortless.

golden cat eye make up

gold and lavender make up

Finally, some of my personal favourites to help you with that ‘natural perfection’ look! :)

Natural make up set

 

Urban Decay eyeshadow, £32 / Christian Dior , £31 / MAC Cosmetics bright lipstick, £9.62

Love xx
Magdalena

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natural make up 2

neutral make up

 

By Magdalena Twardowska
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Red lips rule the world

by TheModernCool Posted on September 29, 2012

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There is something about red lips that goes beyond just classic look. Red lips are timeless and bold at the same time and often transform the look into sharper, more defined. Not surprisingly, red lips won’t ever go out of fashion and now they are making a strong come-back not only to the catwalks, but also the street.

There is a common misconception among women that only few people can wear red on their lips. That is not true – not everybody can wear pure red, but that is another story ;) The general advice is to go by your hair colour and complexion.

If you have lighter skin and fair hair, choose reds that have shades of purple in them, “berry reds”.

If you have olive or dark skin and dark hair/eyes, you would normally go for reds that have yellow base, “tomato reds”. These reds also work well with fair skin but dark hair as the darker hair provides a frame for the red lips.

To start, try semi-transparent lipsticks to get used to bold colour on your lips. If your lips are narrow, try lighter shades first as see how dark can you go without making your lips look too narrow.

Lastly, red lipstick lies to “travel”, so anything from spilling from the lip to marking your teeth or glass… eugh! To avoid this, prepare your lips before putting on red lipstick by using the same loose or compact powder that you would use on the rest of your face (but not too much of it, just to give the lipstick a bit of a grip). After you have applied the lipstick, take a tissue and give it a good kiss to remove any excess. If you know you will be drinking from a glass, you can also apply some transparent lip balm on top which will help lock the red colour under :)

And lastly: don’t be afraid to experiment!

Love xx
Magdalena

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Braided up-dos

by TheModernCool Posted on August 24, 2012

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… are every fashionista’s friend!

This summer braided hairstyles were seen all over catwalks and even on the streets I noticed them more often than usual. Well, there’s something cool about them, be it the hair artwork that they are or the crafty skill required to make them – not sure. Braided up-dos can add this extra dose of flair to your outfit and they can really “accessorize” it too! There are lots of tutorial videos all over youtube so I do recommend having a go at them!

Below some photos of my favourite styles for inspiration. Have fun!

 

Love xx

M.

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Saving broken powders

by TheModernCool Posted on July 1, 2012

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So your compact powder/ foundation/ eye-shadow/ blusher slipped out of your hand and fell straight on the floor just to be broken into million pieces?

I have been there too. And yes, it happens only to my favourite ones :D

But fear not! There is a way to save them and make them almost as new and it’s easier than you think.

Today I am going to show you my method on the example of my old broken eye-shadow. This way to do it is probably the easiest and although it’s nothing new, few people know about it: time to change that!

What you will need to prepare is:

- a small amount of alcohol solution (higher percentage is best, like 70%. You can get it from the pharmacy. Don’t be tempted to use vodka – it doesn’t have the same consistency)

- A cotton bud and a pen/brush/similar with a flat end (I am using the end of my eye-shadow brush). A tissue.

Step 1: Crush the bits of your eye-shadow to nearly powder-like pieces. Be gentle with this or you will make a colourful mess ;)

Step 2: Add few drops (!) of alcohol into the powder obtained, remove the cotton from one end of the cotton bud and use it to mix the alcohol and powder together into a smooth paste. Here I’ve done it with my eye-shadow brush. Whatever is easier for you :)

Step 3: Smoothen the paste so it’s got the flattest surface you can get and use the other end of the cotton bud to wipe off any excess.

Step 4: Wait a little for the alcohol to evaporate and when the mixture hardens a bit, press it with paper or tissues to make it more compact and smooth on top. I use a bottle cap wrapped in a soft face tissue to get super smooth surface and remove any oil.

Step 5: Wait a bit more (best overnight or even 24 hours)…. and voilà! Nothing ever happened :)

 

Love xx

M.

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Know your cravings

by TheModernCool Posted on June 21, 2012

I recently had a chat with a friend about losing weight and eating “properly” so I thought I’m going to write a quick word about nutrition.

We all know from school that craving specific food may mean that we lack some important elements like vitamins or minerals. However, besides few obvious choices I never really knew what the story was.

Recently I came across this useful summary which sheds light why we might crave unhealthy snacks such as crisps or fizzy drinks. It definitely explained some of my own cravings!

Enjoy!

Love xx

M.


 

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Basic DIY nail art

by TheModernCool Posted on May 31, 2012

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So you are looking at all these photos of super-cool nail art and you just wish you could to that at home… well, now you can :)

The idea is very simple: to create some very easy but effective nail designs which you can do by yourself, don’t take too much time, skills close to zero and no professional kit whatsoever. Use the cotton buds soaked in polish remover to correct any imperfections around the cuticles.

You will only need: a set of your favourite nail polishes, make up cotton buds, nails polish remover, sticky tape and small scissors.

It couldn’t be any easier….

1. Start as you normally would: wash your hands (ditch the moisturiser for now – the polish will stick for longer) and paint them with whatever colour you chose as a base. Wait until completely dry and surface hard.

2. Cut the sticky tape to mirror whatever shape you want on your nails and stick it onto the nail.

   

3. Paint over the whole nail again and leave it to dry well (important).

4. Peel the tape very carefully…. And voilà! A perfect shape :) Remember to seal the design with a clear top coat and once dry, you can now moisturise your hands  - your little work of art will last longer.

This is one of the easiest shapes but your possibilities are endless! Play around with lots of different colours and shapes to find your favourite design :) Here are some ideas:

You can also use your make up cotton buds to create other shapes. Use the tip of the buds for perfectly round and equal size dots (below on the middle finger), remove the cotton and tilt it lightly to get half-circles (index finger) or use the edge for thin lines (thumb):

I hope you found this useful :) Apologies for bad quality pictures: these were done with my pocket camera :D

Love xx

M.

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Some hot scrub!

by TheModernCool Posted on May 13, 2012

I would like to recommend you a really good beauty product: the hot scrub by Sanctuary. I got the scrub as a gift from a friend and started using it about 3 months ago. It’s so different than other scrubs!

The cool (or rather hot) thing about it is that when you use it it creates a sensation of warm wave going through the body – so lovely and relaxing! Moreover, the warmth stays with you for a while, so it’s perfect if you were feeling cold before!

The scrub smells lovely and does the job very well. The skin feels smooth and it contains sugar rather than salt – which makes it easier on the skin.

You can get it from Boots (although it’s rary that you find it there – it disappears from the shelves!) or directly on Sanctuary’s website.

Definitely a must!

Love xx

M.

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