All posts in Maja is a Lady

A friend of mine picked up this little bottle of glittery goodness for me during her visit to the United States. It is a blue transparent polish with huge amounts of shimmer and sparkle – absolutely perfect for those times when a black or pale pink just won’t cut it. Be careful though, because you’ll catch yourself staring at your own fingers a lot.

Deborah Lippmann also has a purple version called Bad Romance, which is at the very top of my nail polish wish list. You can’t buy it in Norway as far as I know, but trust me when I say, that polish will be mine… You know, once I’m allowed to shop again ;)

When I was in Oslo this weekend Maria had arranged for us to get a private makeup lesson at Makeup Mekka – the store and brand was new to me, so of course I jumped at the opportunity. We showed up on Friday afternoon and were greeted by two lovely girls, Ingrid and Eleonor, who were to be our teachers/makeup artists. We could choose between a variety of classes, and Maria and I both decided that a master class in smokey eye makeup was needed – I can only speak for myself here, but when I try to do a smokey eye on myself I usually end up looking like some kind of raccoon-hobo hybrid. Not a good look.

Ingrid and Eleonor were not only good at applying makeup, but they were also great at teaching and explaining every step for us, something which I appreciated tremendously. In the end I realized that when I have previously tried to do a smokey eye I have quit about halfway through the process. Quite the eye-opener, if you will pardon my dorky pun!

In the end I had not only been taught valuable tips and tricks concerning eye makeup, but I also got a crash course in contouring, which is something I have been dying to try for a while. Bronzer is another one of those things that I have used only to end up looking dirty and/or ill, but Ingrid somehow managed to make me look – dare I say it – a little bit sun kissed? Not bad for someone whose makeup shade might as well have been called “anemic”!

Now, before I go any further I would like to say that I have not been given anything to write this, nor did I at any point feel obligated to buy anything after the class – but I did end up spending more money on makeup in one go than I ever have before. What can I say – the class made me feel all inspired. This is what I ended up bringing home:

A huge blush/powder palette, an eye shadow palette of cool-colored blues and greens, a liquid eye liner, and a brow powder kit. I wanted to get a blending brush for eye shadow as well, but sadly their brush had not gone into production yet, so I ran to MAC the next day and got a 217 brush instead. Great tools are invaluable, after all.

Needless to say I have been blending, shading and grooming myself to my heart’s desire ever since. What can I say – I’m as vain as they come.

P.S: Makeup Mekka are doing free mini classes for their Facebook fans this summer, so if you’re in Oslo and fancy taking a makeup class I would go for it!

Maria and I were chatting a few days ago about the sorry state of our manes (I know, we’re deep as the deep blue sea the two of us). It’s not that we have terrible hair, not at all, but there are only so many messy buns you can do each week before you start to feel like you’re in a hair rut. My hair is very long and very straight, and needs huge amounts of hair spray in order to – well – do anything besides hang down all limp and heavy. I can’t for the life of me figure out how to curl my hair using straighteners (despite how easy those YouTube gurus make it look), my actual curling iron is ancient and takes forever to heat up, and although I love teased hair it just takes forever to do and is a bitch to comb out. So what do you do?

You follow your friend’s advice, go to the beauty section in your local cheap-o store, and buy two packs of foam rollers.

I have to tell you, putting these rollers into my hair really made me feel like my mom’s daughter. My mom uses rollers religiously, and so did her mom. I guess rollers run in my family.

Despite the old lady look they gave me (Mom, this is NOT me calling you old) I do love how my hair looked after I took the rollers out. Not quite Jessica Rabbit worthy just yet, but I think I might be onto something. For those mornings when I wake up early the easy ponytails and messy buns are a lifesaver, but for those mornings when I have some extra time on my hands? Rollers, baby. Rollers.