Clothing Haul

Forever 21 is now more than a month in The Netherlands and I’ve been there twice already. The clothes they sell are just really awesome. So I am going to do a clothing haul, because I’ve bought a lot of cool stuff this month.

So this is my favourite piece hanging in my closet right now. This dress from Forever21 is light pink and is a little bit shimmery. That’s probably why I love it so much. And it looks really nice. I think it was around €20, so totally worth it!

This is another dress from Forever21, also around €20. It’s brown with a pattern on it, which I really adore. You can wear it in the summer and winter. Then you just throw a cardigan on and put on some leggings or high-knee socks.

This red dress is from H&M, which I think was only €15!. It’s looks really cute on and is really comfortable. Lately I am really in to the colour red. Sometimes I just have some weird times or periods that I want to wear a certain colour every day. And I have no idea where that came from. But, this red dress is just really really beautiful!

Next is this high-waisted skirt, from Forever21 as well, probably around €15. I was looking for a skirt like this for a long long time. But here it is! It has a zipper on the back. And actually I think it’s a little bit short, but it’s beautiful though!

Here we go! Red! This top (€20) is from Forever21 (what a surprise) and is the most beautiful top I’ve ever seen. It falls really nice when I have it on and the colour is perfect as well. 

Another top (€25) from Forever21, with daisies. It looks really girly. One little disadvantage is that you can’t throw it in the washer. And, I speak from experience badly enough. So it has shrunk. Fortunately I can still wear it :) !

This denim jumpsuit (€30) is from H&M. I was looking for something like this a long time as well. When I saw it, I immediately had to get it. I don’t know when or with what I am going to wear it yet. But it’s really nice.

These two accessories are from Forever21. The long golden necklace was around €10 and the little bag I think was €30. Lately I am always taking this bag, when I need to go somewhere fast.  I haven’t worn this necklace yet, but I know I will!

This little necklace is from River Island (€10). It’s a teeny tiny coin and it’s a simple necklace that I can wear with almost everything. This year I am really in to gold jewelry.  

Last, those shoes (€80) are my friends now. They are so cool and different and I just really like them. They have a crocodile pattern and they are made of soft leather. I bought them in Amsterdam in a shoe store called ‘Taft’ and the shoes are from the brand ‘Poelman’.

I would love to know what your favourite store is, leave it in the comments below.

Mariska

movie reviews #1

Watching movies is one of my hobby’s and I know how annoying it is to have watched a movie that was very bad. It’s a waste of time and in that time you could have watched another movie. Or doing something else of course hahaha!  So, that’s why I like to share my already watched list once in a while. I try to write so spoiler-free as possible, so sometimes I will not tell the whole movie story.

Divergent

In a world far into the future, society is divided into five factions and all of them represent a different virtue. Teenagers have to choose whether they want to stay in their born faction or switch to another one, this choice is a decision for the rest of their lives. The decision is based on a test in virtual reality and on what they want for themselves. In this test Tris Prior discovers she is divergent and has no clue  what she will choose. Is she going to choose for her family or is she going to leave them behind?

I really enjoyed watching Divergent because it’s an adventurous movie that is easy to watch. The decor that shows Chicago in the future is very believable and that made me immediately very excited. The storyline is very good but a little predictable, especially the love stuff is not a surprise. They left out a few things, that were in the book, but that’s always the case. The movie is worth watching and I really recommend it to the people who haven’t seen it yet.

The 100 year old man who climbed out of the window

Allan karlsson ends up in a nursing home after he lived a long and eventful life. He thinks this will be his last stop and he will die here. On his 100 birthday he decides to escape from the home. He buys a bus ticket with the last penny’s he has left in his pocket. While he is waiting for the bus a strange looking guy dumps his suitcase with Allan and goes to the bathroom. Allan decides to take the suitcase with him when the bus arrives. And that’s where the journey begins. He comes face to face with murder and drugs. But he also meets a few very good friends on this trip.

This is a very funny story, very unlikely but still funny. My friend, who took me to see this one had read the book and really liked to see this one. We went to watch this one in the cinema, and in the beginning I noticed the filming quality was not at all good. But it was an easy to follow movie, so when you need to relax and you want a movie were you don’t have to think that much, this movie is perfect for those moments.

3 days to kill

Ethan Renner is a CIA agent who is told that he is dying. He decides to go to Paris and reconnect with his estranged wife and daughter. His wife is giving him another chance and so he is allowed to look after his daughter while his wife goes out of town for a few days. He promised his wife that he stepped out of the CIA, but while she’s gone a woman approaches him and tells him about a new kind of drug that might help him. In return he has to find a man he was looking for for years.

I really enjoyed this movie. It was surprising, not at all predictable and sometimes funny. The beginning was for me, the wow-moment of the movie. It’s an action movie most of the time but also some humor is in there. I think that’s a very good combination. Yeah, if you like a little action you should watch this movie.

Monuments men

During World War II, Frank Stokes learns that Hitler is stealing all of the great works of art for his personal museum. So Stokes recruits 6 men who are each art experts and they go to Europe under the guise of being soldiers to find out where the art that was taken is. But the Russians are also looking for this valuable art, and the Germans are ordered to burn all of the art when they lose the war.

This movie is based on a true story, for me that always makes it a little more interesting to watch. When I found out George Clooney was one of the actors, this movie became number one on my must watch list. I did not know what to expect, but while I was watching I almost fell asleep twice. The movie takes so long before something happens. Honestly I did not like this movie and got a little bored watching it, but there is a good story behind it.

This is just my opinion, so it could be you have another opinion about these movies. Nothing wrong with that! I am very honest with these things and I hope you appreciate that. Did you watch one of these movies? Did you enjoy these movies? What movie de you recommend?

Calden

Favourite scents

We all love some good scents and I personally can’t live without them. I am finding new ones all the time, so I am going to share my favourite perfumes that have claimed a place in my room.

I will start off with my all-time favourite. It’s ‘Loverdose’ by Diesel. This scent is so amazing; I am addicted. The perfume is a little spicy and smells like liquorice. The bottle looks so lovely and awesome as well. The colour and the shape are so beautiful. The duration of this perfume is really great. Everyday this heart is looking at me questioningly and asking me to be used.

Next is ‘Fresh blossom ’ by DKNY. Also this perfume smells amazing. The scent is like fresh blossoms ( surprise, surprise..) and reminds me of the summer. This one is already pretty old, but I still love it. This perfume lasts pretty long as well. This bottle is also really beautiful and really looks like it smells good, which it does. 

This cute small piece of spring, floral and garden blasts is definitely one of my favourites. It's 'Salvatore Ferragamo' by Signorina.The scent really elegant and the bottle looks really nice on my perfume shelf. I have a really tiny bottle, but I will certainly buy a big one.

I have got this one for a really long time now, but I fell in love with it again. ‘Seductive’ by Guess. I don’t think the bottle is really amazing, but it’s still beautiful though. Normally I am more of the ‘fresh scents’, but this one has got me loving it. Although the scent is heavier and more mysterious. 

These are two perfumes that I really want to buy soon. They both smell so amazing, that I will regret myself not buying them. I got these little testers for free, when I bought something else in a perfume store. ( huge thanks to the store!)The first/left one in the picture is ‘Legend’ by Mont Blanc. I can’t explain to you how good this perfume smells. I am always wearing this one to special occasions only, because there isn’t many of it. It reminds me of woods, floral, vanilla and fruits. So it’s a really fresh and girly scent, which I really love. The second/right one in the picture is ‘Le petite robe noire’ ( eau de parfum couture) by Guerlain. I already see it appearing on my shelf, because it’s the first thing I will buy soon. The scent consists of fresh floral notes with ultra-defined woody notes and a touch of raspberry. I have already seen the bottle and it looks amazing. Last, the duration gets four stars from me!

Let me know what your favourite perfume is in the comments, because I would love to know!

Mariska

Shoplog Primark

Last week I went to the Primark in Nijmegen, I have to say: the smallest Primark I have seen.  On the ground floor they had ladies, ladies sport and a few accessories. 1St floor they had more ladies, all the accessories and shoes. In the basement were men and in house stuff. Normally I will never go to Primark on a Saturday. But it just so happened that my sister called that morning telling me a friend of hers found the baseball dress we’ve been searching for forever. So as a good sister I went to Primark. And honestly I don’t recommend going there on Saturday, I thought I would die there. How come it always gets so hot in there, there’s almost no oxygen. Anyways, I think you’re dying to see what I bought.

This was the reason I went to the Primark; a baseball dress. I have to say you can’t really see It’s a dress, but it’s a pretty long one actually. €10,-

I saw this shirt and I just fell in love. I was really in the sports mood that day. €7,-

This sweater is so cute and comfy. It’s very soft on the inside. €10,-

Going to Primark means buying some shoes. These are gorgeous and they walk comfortable. €18,-

two pairs of earrings, the bows were €1,50 and the other ones were €2,-. When I go to Primark I buy hair ties every time, because you know how they can just disappear  €1,50.

I get a lot of sleep overs and sometimes they forget their toothbrush. Because I’m a nice very person ( haha joke) I have extra toothbrushes for my guests. Last time SpongeBob and this time Hello Kitty €2,50.

I really like the tights and the leggings from Primark so every time I am there I buy new ones €4,-.

My toiletry bag was kind of dying but also I was looking for sonething different. I haven't really found The perfect toiletry bag until I found this one. I am going on holiday this summer so I really needed a new one. This one has three little bags with a zipper, and one of them is attached with Velcro so you can take that bag out. That was not all of the awesomeness; you can hang it with the hook on top of the bag €5,-.

Where do you go to Primark? What do you always buy when you go there?

Well,  that was it. I hope you enjoyed reading this and see you next time.

Calden

Huge blog change

From today our blog won't be called 'LovelyDazzling' anymore, but...... 'BloggingBlondes'. We were desperate for a name-change, because we weren't flattered by the name anymore. The process of the change was really hard, because we knew we were going to lose all our followers and comments.

We are really happy with the fact that we are able to keep our social media accounts, because lately we discovered that 'www.Bol.com' is following us......... seriously?! That is so amazing. We hope to gain our followers back soon.

We thought if we do a name-change, we have to change our lay-out as well! We are really happy with how our blog looks right now. We hope you all like it as well!

So we just wanted you to know about our huge changes, so that nobody would get confused.


Rianne, Calden&Mariska (BloggingBlondes)

Purchased treasure

Yesterday I went to an electronic store to buy a camera. I was actually going to buy the Nikon D3200, but I came home with an other treasure. The Sony α58. This happened all because of the salesman. Who was explaining a lot about SLR-camera’s. This camera is designed for beginners who want a multifaceted and fast camera. It has a really fast focus , burst mode and you can shoot 8 frames per second! Apart from that this camera has a really fast recognition and it will always retain the full resolution. Which is really amazing as well. I almost forgot to tell that you can also film with this camera and plug in a microphone! I mean….

This treasure can also be really professional for the people who are more advanced with capturing pictures. With every experience you gain more knowledge about the camera. I still have to learn a lot about the camera. I am going to follow a really cool workshop in the store where I bought my camera, but I don’t know when yet. I hope I will learn a lot more about it then!

For accessories I bought an extra protecting bag, in case I am going to be clumsy again; a lens protector; an extra battery pack; a special cleaning set for the camera, if the camera is really dirty and needs some ‘outside’ cleaning; And last a lens cap non-looser, in case I will also be clumsy in losing my lens cap... So here are some pictures of my beautiful treasure!

Let me know what your favourite SLR camera is and maybe you got some tips for sharing. Stay tuned, maybe pictures made by this camera will appear in other posts!

Mariska

Flormar Amsterdam

Last month I went to Amsterdam with Mariska. What did we do there? Shopping of course. We walked trough the Kalverstraat and almost at the end I saw Flormar. I had heard about this store, so I said to Mariska: “ We have to go in.”

The store comes originally from Milan, and has a few foreign stores. One of them in The Netherlands. The price of the make-up variations: lipsticks can be 3-6€ and face powder can be 8-12€. I would say drug store prices. I have to say that the store reminded me a lot of Kiko Cosmetics (also Italian). I liked the way they structured all the make-up, it was not at all too much to take in. They have all kinds of eye shadow palettes and I think they had like hundred different kinds of lipstick. The only disadvantage is that no product has a name, they call it a letter and two numbers.

The Flormar store also offers skin care products and perfumes. They have so much different things, It’s unbelievable. I am very enthusiastic about the store and their products. I don’t know if you already know but I am addicted to lipstick. It’s starting to become a little sad. I just keep buying it and I cannot stop. So, you can guess what I bought!

In the middle, we have the Long Wearing Lipstick and on both sides the Revolution Perfect Lipstick with their beautiful packaging.

Flormar Long Wearing Lipstick ( I believe this one was €4,99)

L07 is a light pink colour with a blue under tone, with a little brown in there. It looks a little peachy, but that disappears on my lips.

Flormar Revolution Perfect Lipstick ( €6,99 apiece)

R06 is a dark pink redish colour with a hint of purple. This is definitely my favourite colour of the three I bought.

R12 is a bright pink colour almost purple. I would wear this in the evening because it’s very striking.

I have to say I was impressed by these lipsticks, especially the Revolution Perfect stays on my lips for ever. When I made these swatches I couldn’t get the whole lines of my arm. I would love to go back to the flormar store to buy lots and lots more. But I have to retain myself.

Thank you for reading! :)

Calden

Trip to Schiphol

Today we went to Schiphol for an English assignment. It became a day trip and we had a lot of fun. So here is a little photo diary of this trip.

Posing as real tourists in our own country.

The one and only in The Netherlands: turns out there were no bras :(

We found this cute cupcake bakery and Calden bought the red velvet creamcheese cupcake.

Look how cute!

Lunch at Burger King.

On our way home.

At Albert Heijn we saw this deliciousness. We always eat this when we're on holidays and now we found it here! ;)

We had so much fun today, with a lot of food.

Calden, Rianne & Mariska(BloggingBlondes)

Favourite apps

I have had my Iphone a few months now and I am really obsessed with it and the apps that I couldn’t download on my android phone. I really love apps a lot and I am seriously finding new ones every day... So I am going to share my favourite apps!

I will start off with my photography apps, because I have downloaded almost all of them. Don’t ask me why, but I just like them and I always pick one randomly for editing my photos. Or you can just smash a ton of filters on your picture and share it on ‘instagram’! ‘Instagram’ is definitely my all-time favourite app, because it’s like a photo diary of your life and it’s just really awesome. My first photo-editing app is ‘VSCOcam’. With this app you can put filters on your pictures, but it also has a ‘community-part’. Personally, I don’t have an account but I just use this app for filters. Another editing app is ‘Rookie’. This one has a lot of great and beautiful filters. But you can also change contrast, temperature, colour and sharpness. Apart from that you can add doodles and text with this cool app. Last I have ‘Pixlr-o-matic’ and ‘Hellocamera’ for photography apps.

For music apps I have ‘Sing’ by Smule, ‘youtube’, ‘stereomood’ and ‘Shazam’. ‘Sing’ is a really cool global karaoke community. You can sing songs with other people and it’s really funny. The app is for everybody, you don’t need to be good and that is why it’s so funny. ‘Youtube‘ is just a general app I have on my phone like ‘Facebook’ and ‘Whatsapp’. ‘Stereomood’ I actually downloaded today. Which is crazy, because I am already obsessed with this app. You choose or search your mood and then you’ll get a whole playlist for your mood, so you can listen to music that you prefer when you are in a certain mood. ‘Shazam’ is literally a life-saver for me. In the past when I heard a song that I didn’t know the name of and that I really liked, I used to throw all the words that I heard in the ‘youtube’ search bar and then after a lot of searching I would find the name of the song. But now I can just turn on ‘Shazam’ and it finds the song for me. So really awesome, thanks to the inventor!

I am not really a gamer, but these games have to be on my Iphone: ‘Temple run’, ‘Flappy bird’ and ’Fruit ninja’. ‘Temple run’ is more of an adventure game and is really awesome. ‘Flappy bird’ is a game that I actually don’t like and I really fail at. But for some reason I am scared to delete it, because then I won’t be able to download it again. ‘Fruit Ninja’ is a game that I really love to do as well.

Other apps that I love are: ‘Weheartit’, ‘bloglovin’’, ‘Druppel’ (weather app) and ‘Duolingo’. ‘Weheartit’ is a sort of tumblr where you can share and ‘heart’ pictures and follow other people. This app is just really lovely and I am on it almost every day. ‘Bloglovin’’ is a great app for the ‘blogging-world’. You can read, follow and like blogs and articles from others with the same or a different blog platform. ‘Druppel’ is a really nice dutch weather app, it tells you if or when it is going to rain and when it stops while it’s raining. So it’s really handy. My last favourite app is ‘Duolingo’. This app is not for fun, but it is really nice to learn English or other languages. Even Chinese! It is really amazing!

Mariska

Make-up brushes I use

I thought it would be interesting to show you which make-up brushes I use on a daily base. Before I start I like to point out that everybody can use brushes the way they want to. I do that as well; the packaging can say whatever, when I discover something else is easier , I will use it my way.
Face brushes:

120 Kabuki by Zoeva

What a kabuki brush needs, is a lot of hair very close to each other. That’s exactly what this brush offers. This brush can only cover large areas of my face, because it’s very big. I use this brush to apply loose transparent powder over my foundation. Oh, and that is Sensai by Kanebo loose powder (translucent), not the cheapest but a very good quality powder.

127 Luxe Sheer Cheek brush by Zoeva

This is the softest blush brush I have ever felt. What I really like about this one is the angled shape. The shape makes it so easy to apply blush, and I also use it for shaping with bronzer. This brush allows me to blend as well, it is such an amazing quality. The only disadvantage; the hairs are white, meaning when I wash this thing and I use it once it looks like I haven’t washed it in months. But I don’t mind, because this brush is just amazing.

122 Petit Stippling brush by Zoeva

This brush is perfect to apply cream-blush, highlighter and concealer. I use this blush for highlighter (MAC mineralize skin finish soft and gentle), because the brush is so small I can apply the highlighter to the exact right zone of my cheeks.

Eye zone brushes:

MAC 263 Small Angle brush

Five years ago, when I went to a MAC counter for the first time, the lady that helped me, told me that my eye brows would be way prettier with a little colour. So she sold me this brush and some powder. But after a while I realised that, for me, this brush is not easy and a little small for the eye brows. Now a days, it’s still a very good brush that I use to make an eyeliner with eye shadow.

Anastasia angled cut duo brush #15

Anastasia is the eyebrow expert from America, so it’s no surprise that she created the best eyebrow brushes ever. This one has the brush to fill in the eyebrow on one side and a bristle on the other side. So when I used a little too much powder on my eyebrow I can comb it out. I have this brush for 2 years now and wash it every week, the quality of the hairs is unbelievable.

231 Petit Crease Shader brush by Zoeva
234 Smoky Shader brush by Zoeva
235 Contour Shader brush by Zoeva

These are all eye shadow brushes, depending on what kind of eye look I want, I choose the brush. Every brush has his own effect, but I do have a favourite and that’s the 231. I use this brush for applying eye shadow and blending as well, It’s a 2 in 1 awesome brush.

MAC 224 Tapered Blending brush

I bought this brush the same time I bought the other MAC brush, and I am not very happy with this one. The brush got old very fast and for that price, I have to say it hurts my heart. The hairs are very thick, when I’m blending eye shadow one hair falls out and it just sticks to my eye shadow. It’s so annoying because I try to remove that one thick hair from my eye shadow, and then I remove half of my eye shadow.

These where the brushes I use, I think you noticed I have a lot of brushes from Zoeva. But let me tell you, these are the best brushes I have tried and I have tried a lot of them. Check the brushes out at www.zoeva-shop.de or www.themakeupspot.nl (where I bought my brushes). I didn't write the prices down because they vary on every website.

I hope you enjoyed reading this! See you next time!

Calden