The Shop I'm In Love With

Images property of Ante Memoria
I'm a firm believer in the gospel of 'you can never have too many bags'. I often clear out my wardrobe and toss away countless shirts and shoes, but somehow I hardly ever part ways with bags. A couple of days ago I was wasting away some time on Twitter when I followed a link to a new website called Ante Memoria. It's safe to say I was sold instantly I fell in love with everything on the website.

Maybe it's because of the minimalist approach to everyday bags, the fact that I have a weakness for anything handheld or that the items  look luxurious and simple at the same time. I want them all. I especially love the shearling clutch. It looks super cosy, and I'm voting it as one of the best accessories to carry around with you during fall and winter.

Ante Memoria is founded by Jessica Wakeman. She designs the bags herself and my favorite part... she hand makes them to order. So you know that if you order one of her products you'll have a gorgeous unique piece that can be integrated into your wardrobe in so many ways.

I'm just waiting for payday to arrive so I can finally add one of these beauties to my ever growing collection.

You can visit the Ante Memoria store here.

The Ones That I Want

When one identifies oneself as a blogger that comes with a certain set of characteristics, one of which is the ever present urge for more. Seven perfect red lipsticks¬? Why not add an eighth to really make sure you have that picture perfect shade. Recently I have found myself lusting after skin care more than makeup. I have my easy beauty routine down pat and don’t want for anything. But skin care, gorgeous creams and lotions, astringent toners and luscious masks and serums. Oh I want it all.

These are the items currently at the top of my wish list. The Aesop Purifying Cream Cleanser. I was provided with a generous sample of this cleanser the last time I visited Skins Cosmetics in Amsterdam and promptly fell in love with the formula. Gentle and soft but leaving the face perfectly clean. The Oskia Renaissance Mask. I saw Lily and Anna mention this in on of their recent Beauty Chat videos. It supposedly improves the skin and makes it brighter and softer, sounds like a dream to me.

The Origins Make A Difference Plus Rejuvenating Treatment. I’ve always struggled finding a night time treatment and sticking with it. I change my moisturizer about four times a week depending what I feel my skin is asking for. And lastly the Origins GinZing Refreshing Face Mask. Origins is bringing it with their additions to the GinZing line. I already love the moisturizer and the scrub and a refreshing ten minute hydrating treatment sounds like just the thing I should be adding to my collection.

The Summer Wishlist

When I first saw the Estee Lauder Doublewear All Day Glow BB Cream appearing on the blog I immediately told myself that I need to have this. After some research and enquiring I found out that it won’t be launched in the Netherlands until later in the spring. This is supposedly the perfect BB cream for summer. It offers a light glowing kind of coverage but has the staying power of the other double wear foundations from the brand. I can’t wait to get my hands on this.

An eyeliner that acts like Sharpie and won’t come off until it is doused in waterproof eye makeup remover, sign me up for that. The Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner has been praised by so many and I want to get my hands on it. While I love my L’Oreal Superslim eye liner it lacks in staying power. With those hot summer nights we’re all wishing for, this Stila liner will be a girl’s best friend.

I’m still lusting after those perfectly wavy ‘I spent the day at the beach’-waves. They seem difficult to achieve with my heavy and thick hair, but where the sea salt sprays of Lee Stafford and Toni & Guy have failed maybe Sachajuan will succeed. Plus I’m a sucker for clean packaging and this brand has that down to a tee.

My brows have never looked as good as they do when I use my Anastasia Brow Wiz. The success of this product makes me want to try more products from this brand. And with of the approaching summer a product that is rumoured to stay in place no matter sounds like it will be just right for me. I have to admit that the Dipbrow Pomade has been sitting on my wishlist since Suzie from Hello Octorber wrote a review on it.

The gorgeous peachy coral shade of nail varnished pictured up top has the perfect name for someone like me; serial shopper. It’s a bright summery shade without being too in your face. And you can never have too many nail polishes, right?

Lipstick is another one of those products that I just can’t seem to stop buying. Always on the hunt for that perfect shade that will have everybody asking you what you’re wearing. After reading a bunch of reviews on the YSL Babydoll Kiss & Blush I am convinced that I need at least several of these shades in my life. Poor bank balance.

The Tarte Amazonian Clay blushes are arguably the best powder blushes I have ever used. The pigmentation and staying power is beyond amazing and the color selection is brilliant. Therefore it shouldn't come as a surprise that one of their blushes is always on my wishlist. Up top is ‘Tipsy’ a beautiful coral shade that will do wonders for your skin.

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The Pretty In Pink Wish List

The birds are whistling, the sun is shining, and I’m pretty sure that we are not getting any snow this winter. I dare to even say that now that February is coming to its end, springtime is well on its way. Of course, I’m still bed-ridden and do not have the chance to go out and shop like I usually do. My balance is breathing a sigh of relief, honestly. I can’t help but go around and around online looking for items to warm me up for spring. When browsing on Feel Unique, Sephora and Debenhams the other day I was sensing a definite theme. Pink! (Sophia Grace & Rosie moment, let me know if you catch my drift!)

This time around I am not leaving my favorite until the end, I am jumping right into it. I fell in love with the new Lancome range of lipsticks. The Rouge in Love collection holds tons of shades that are all super feminine and gorgeous. One of my favorites is the Jolie Matins shade, pictured above. Part of Guerlain’s Spring 2014 collection is the Perles Meteorites in the shade Doré. I may or may not have placed a cheeky order for this one. Don’t tell my mom.

A must have according to one of my favorite YouTube-stars Claire Marshall is the Dior Crème de Rose. It seems to have disappeared from both Feel Unique and my local perfumery’s website. I certainly hope that it hasn’t been discontinued, I highly doubt it. But it’s a little tricky to track down at the moment.

No spring time/pink edit would be complete without a nod towards pink nail polish, and this Nails Inc one fits the bill perfectly. Pictured up top is the shade Kensington Palace, and it’s making me wish the brand was easier to get a hold of in the Netherlands.

Benefit is always one to stay ahead of the trends and their new Lip & Cheek stain aptly titled Lollitint is amazing. I’ve seen so many bloggers do reviews on this and I think it would go great with my pale complexion.

Last on today’s wish list is a slightly different tone of eye shadow. I generally don’t wear pink tones on my lids, as I think they make my eyes look puffy and as if I have just had a good cry. But with the arrival of the Naked 3 palette, and the beauty world being flooded by an abundance of pink toned smoky eyes, my opinion might be shifting. This particular color is by Estee Lauder, and it’s their Pure Color Gelée Powder eye shadow. I fell absolutely in love with the blusher of this range, so I’m sure I can love the eye variety of it.

I can’t wait to ditch these crutches and go shopping.

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The Much Needed Color Injection Wishlist

With so many blog posts going around about detoxing your life and rethinking your wardrobe for the new year I felt the need to go to my closet and rethink it. I ended up throwing out quite a few items and was shocked at how little color was left in my closet. My shelves and hangers are filled with black, white and grey. While making it extremely easy to get dressed in the morning, it's also a little boring. 

I want to add a bit more color to my life. Doing this by investing into quality pieces with a great statement color will also give me an incentive to wear them more often. I do the whole cost per wear thing, anyone else do this? I have some surprisingly low numbers hanging on my rail.

Above is a selection of items from high street fashion chains from the likes of H&M, Topschop, River Island and Missguided. Proving it can be done to get beautiful and chic pieces at the fraction of the designer pricetag. I'm particularly digging the yellow coat from H&M and the pvc skirt from Missguided. 

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The Wishlist