SMOONSTYLE : May 2015

Consider this the biggest Beauty Bin up to date. I accumulated a hoarder's amount of lotions and potions. I should do BB more often. Like that, my house won't drown in empty packages.

Like last time, I will divide them into Face, Hair, Body and this time I've added Make Up.

Get yourself something to snack and a drink because it will be quite the list.

♡ SIMONE

FACE

Bebe More Brighten- Up Day creme (2x) A nice light day creme, perfect for mixed skin types. I do find that it stings my eyes a bit, so try to stay away from them.
Bebe More Bedtime Beauty A thicker consistancy than the Brighten- Up Day creme. I wanted to try it out, but found it too rich for my skin type.
L'Oreal Waterproof make up remover Great, but not the best.
Alverde Clear Peeling face mask I loved this because it didn't irritate my skin. It helped with the impurities and left my skin nice and soft.
Maybelline Waterproof make up remover Hoarding this big time. For me close to the best, but I need more to get rid of the waterproof mascaras. They are a b.i.t.ch to get off!
Weleda Mandel (almond) Face creme (2x) I tried my best, but after two tubes, I couldn't get used to the weird feeling of having a layer on my skin. It felt as if my skin didn't absorb it. Better for dry skin.
L'Oreal Micellar Solution Water Tried it, went back to Bioderma.
Kryolan Waterproof Eye make up remover For me the best to remove waterproof mascara. Kryolan nailed it! It is a bit pricier than the Maybelline, but it lasts longer. No stinging eyes. Very comfortable. Need to get me some new ones asap.

BODY

Eubos Sensitive hand creme Still my all time favorite hand creme. My holy grail for dry hands.

Vaseline Spray and Go Moisturizer Pure Oat Extract Perfect for a thin layer of lotion, not a miracle product. The scent is not my thing, but I love the idea of spray lotions.

Vaseline Spray and Go Moisturizer Aloe Now here is more my scent. I love how aloe has a cooling effect on the skin. Perfect for hot summer days.

Rituals Wai Gang body scrub My favorite scent of the whole Rituals range. White lotus and Yi Yi Ren. Great scrub. Only downside is the bottle. You gotta work the muscles to squeeze it out.

Balea Soft Oil Balm body lotion You know this one, right? A must for every girl!

Dusch Das Golden Cashmere deo roller Love this scent and that it works. No more smelly armpits.

Kneipp Nachtkerze shower gel A very soft and scent and great for sensitive skin. It did hydrate my skin.

HAIR

Anderson Oil and Care shampoo Will not buy this. Made my hair grease up on the day I washed it. Way too rich and makes the hair weigh down. Will not buy this again. It was an emergency purchase.

Paul Mitchell Keratin Intensive Treatment If it weren't for the price, I would buy this more often. I go through conditioners like crazy. It would just get too pricy. It is great, but too expensive.

Balea Deep Cleanse Shampoo I like to crunch up my hair with texture sprays and put oil in the ends of my hair. This is a good shampoo to get rid of all the build up and isn't too harsh for my hair.

Andrelon Keratine Repair Conditioner There you have an affordable conditioner that I really seem to like ;) Still using this on a two daily basis. I wash my hair every second day. The Dutch drugstore 'Kruidvat' often has two for one. My mom always stocks me up. Rob helped me out once too.

MAKE UP

Manhattan Endless Stay Make-Up 62 Porcelain (2x) A super affordable and great medium to full coverage foundation. They changed the packaging and the formula a bit. I loved that it came in squeeze tubes for traveling, but I did sometimes blob out too much.

Maybelline Age rewind concealer in Light (2x) Love this for highlighting. Not enough coverage for (my) under eye area.

Kryolan Lip Stain in Rock My color red that I have been wearing for The Quantum Enigma photo shoots and shows. It is a super opaque red that stays on like a dream. Already on my second tube.

Estee Lauder Double Wear Maximum Cover in Vanilla My secret concealer for those days where you just need it. I also love to use it for the stage because it is a great stage/night time full coverage foundation. For day time I find it too heavy. It also emphasizes the pores and oxidizes. Funny story is that I wore this during giving birth (yes, I wore make up). It stayed on during my water birth.

L'Oreal Super Liner in Brown One of my staples. It is a beautiful dark brown liquid liner with a glossy finish.

Essence Studio Nails fast drying top coat It is ok, still doesn't come close to Seche Vite.

Ebelin Nail Polish remover without acetone Always have this in my house and travel bag. I should switch up to a new one. My nails have been in a horrible condition lately. Split and weak. Do you guys know a good one?

Ebelin Nail Polish remover pads without acetone These are more forgiving for the nails, but it lasts longer to get the nail polish off and I don't have the patience for that ;)

12.5.15 12 comments

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4.5.15 11 comments

First I would like to warn all the sweet toothies out there! This will make your mouth water like a waterfall :)

Macarons are one of my favorite treats. They are delicious little pieces of art that come in a huge variety of flavors. One of my favorite is the pistachio. I love everything pistachio.

I have tasted many different macarons, Laduree, Pierre Herme, Breuniger, unknown brands that were gifted to me by fellow sweet tooth/teeth fans. I've tasted good and bad ones. I decided that it was time to try to make some of my own. Little did I know that it was quite the challenge that I gave myself. After failing a couple of times, I am proud to present you my perfect macaron!

My Macaron Story:

Where shall I begin? First thing that I did was enter the digital video world: YouTube. When you search for macarons, a lot of videos are shown. I clicked on: Beth's Foolproof French Macaron Recipe and gathered all the ingredients that I could find. She describes the making process very accurately and warns you for all the things that can go wrong. And boy they do! Very few people can get it right from the first try. My macarons looked like burger buns. They were huge! The butter cream (of which I am not a fan) was a mess, because I used frozen raspberries. My bad. I ended up making chocolate butter cream. They were like the stones that sunk the big bad wolf in Little Red Riding Hood.

Onto Try Number Two:

For this funny episode I chose: Byron Talbott Candy Cane Macaron. These where probably the messiest of all. I totally messed these up. They looked like they had the measles or some other irritating infection. What went wrong? I kind of got the measurements wrong after fighting with myself to get the egg whites right.

I own a beautiful Kitchen Aid which is normally one of my best friends. For this recipe not so much. When you have the egg white of one egg, the whisk doesn't reach down far enough to make the egg white stiff. I then refilled it in a different bowl and had an electric whisk try to beat the crap out of my whites. Can you catch my drift? The ganache turned out horrible because I didn't put it in the fridge to solidify a bit. Then the coloring is where it all went even more wrong. I bought the coloring liquid instead of the paste. It was way to watery and got everywhere and my macarons looked horrible I also undercooked them so they were still soft on the inside and broke once I tried to take them off the backing sheets. Boy was I frustrated! Ask Oli, he knows.

Try Number Three:

The YouTube chef that has actually made me laugh out loud (don't like lol) is: Dulce Delight and her version of the Perfect Macaron. She is an entertainer I tell you. We also share our love for the color yellow. She has the same Kitchen Aid as me. I need that yellow pan as well!

I used her technique to make the shells of the chocolate macarons and then I made a white chocolate ganache with pistachios. They were close to perfect. I beat the sweat out of my pores by whisking the egg whites by hand. I need to work out more. This is heavy duty elbow grease kind of work.

For this third try I bought a silicon mat. I used that and also parchment paper. The ones on the PP turned out better because the silicon mat was too thick and didn't let the heat cook the shells. They turned out undercooked... Luckily the parchment paper saved some of the batch.

My Fourth:

I learned enough from YT and my mistakes. I turned to Amazon to buy a book and the original silpat macarons mat. The book that I got is from Aurelie Bastian, one of the most popular books about macarons. She finished the job for me in my quest to make the perfect macaron.

I separated the egg white, measured it perfectly and let it ripen in the fridge for a couple of days.

I ignored my beautiful kitchen aid and took my good old mixer that I almost threw out of the kitchen. We have quite some kitchen appliances and they are piling up as we speak. What can I say, I am a kitchen crazy.

I sued the silpat to create the perfect shape of macaron. The pictures below are the result of some hard work. I didn't give up and am glad of it. They are coffee macarons with milk chocolate ganache, topped off with some cacao powder.

My Tips to You:

Measure all the ingredients to the last gram
Make sure that the almond flour and confectionery sugar are finely ground
Use 'old' egg whites
Always let the ganache cool down in the fridge
Let the macarons sit for more than 30 min before putting them in the oven
To check if you over or underbeat the egg whites, try the spoon trick on a plate
If you use recipes that require one egg white, try to beat it by hand Do not buy that brown silicon mat, it simply sucks!
Send me pics with #smoonstylemacarons if you give them a go
Don't eat them all at once ;)

Enjoy!

I want to thank all the foodies on YouTube/Blogger sphere for sharing their knowledge to everyone. Not only can I make the perfect macaron, but so much more. My cooking has improved ten fold. Oliver and Vincent will enjoy healthy, delicious meals for as long as I can hold the pots and pans.

Pictures were made with a Canon EOS 700D 40mm f 2.8 Pancake Lens

♡ SIMONE

2.5.15 17 comments

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