Portrait: Questions answered!

My portrait.

Make-up by me:

Powder: Max Factor BiH Facefinity All Day Flawless 3-in-1 Foundation Nude 47

http://iddavanmunster.blogspot.fr/2012/10/review-of-new-max-factor-products.html

Compact powder: Artdeco Dita von Teese porcelain
Blush: Benefit Sugarbomb

Eyebrow pencil: MAC brunette

Eyeliner: Max Factor Colour X-Pert Waterproof Eyeliner in black

Eyelashes: Artdeco Dita von Teese nr. 32

Eyeshadow: N.Y.C. NEW YORK COLOR EYE SHADOW CUBE SKYLINE - LIGHT PURPLE

Lipstick: Artdeco Dita von Teese nr. 607

© Safet Hadzimusic Photography

Questions and my answers you asked me on my facebook fan page:

What are your staple products to achieve your perfect vintage look? 

I love the new Artdeco collection by Dita von Teese.  Compact powder for the perfect porcelain skin, liquid eyeliner for the cat-eye look and lipstick in the shade between red and orange. Must have is also: sunscreen SPF 100.

Do you have any secret tips, tricks and products to perfecting the classic winged eye? 

Perfect eyeliner is very elegant, sophisticated look with the all important element of vintage glamour. Generally, getting that perfect, flattering line is hard! I look down into a mirror to apply it so I can see the shape and match them up better. A lot of people are afraid of liquid liner. And for good reason! At first, it can be a little tricky to work with. But, as with all things, practice makes perfect! Using a black liquid liner with a very thin brush gently drag the brush along your lashline starting from the top inner corner of your eye toward the outer corner of your eye. Use a hands-free mirror and keep your eye relaxed and slightly open as you line. After you have lined both eyes, be sure to compare the liner on each eye. Are they even? If not, simply take a pointed q-tip and lightly drag the line along the eye to make it symmetrical to the other eye. Don’t worry if your liner isn’t perfect after your first try. It took me lots of practice to get it down. Don't forget – always follow your natural eye shape.

Do you have a beauty motto you live by? 

The only real beauty and elegance is in the mind; If you've got that, the rest really comes from it.

What is it like being vintage in a modern world? Do you find it difficult?

 I've never had a really bad reaction, but some people just don't "get it". The response is usually very positive; strangers and friends lusting after my latest finds. I also find that people don't realise some of my outfits are vintage, they assume that they have been bought from expensive boutiques. Wearing vintage means to be often overdressed compared to today fashion. There's no special occasion needed to wear a lovely dress. Every day is a special occasion! When people judge you and make fun of you that person feels badly about themselves. I am dressing for me, not anyone else.

Who is your ultimate beauty icon and why? 

When it comes to what inspires me, I would have to say it is a composition of many different things. From films and music to fashion and icons. I always feel so inspired by all these old classic beauties. Elizabeth Taylor, Ann Blyth, Ava Gardner, Ginger Rogers, Dovima, Suzy Parker, Doloroes del Rio, Debra Paget, Myrna Loy etc. These women had true talent and were true elegant women. No matter how many times I see one of their movies, I am always stunned at how amazing they were. One of my favorite style and beauty icons is Marlene Dietrich, because she was very in tune with what her own personal style was. As probably someone of you noticed, I admire strong women. Women who know what they want, work hard to have it and still have time to be caring, loving, feminine. „The most powerful of women are women who let themselves be inspired by greatness in other women“ – said Dita von Teese.

My love.

What music or musicians do you like?

 I live and love with music! I had my first music affair with jazz and rock’n’roll. And here & there with classic music. I enjoy listening to Miles Davis, Duke Ellington… Thanks goes to my father! There’s nothing I love more while I’m cleaning house or pinning up my victory rolls than listening to my favorite tunes. Nearly every vintage lover adores the Andrews Sisters and Elvis Presley, of course - but check out some of these other musical talents from the 1930’s to 1950’s: Dinah Shore, Tommy Dorsey, Frank Sinatra, Glen Miller, Ella Fitzgerald, Perry Como, Mario Lanza, Frankie Laine, Doris Day, Rosemary Clooney, Nat King Cole, Chuck Berry and The Chordettes.
Oh my, I love Edith Piaf and Billie Holiday! Annette Hanshaw is another favorite of mine! I must not forget the music of the WWII 40's - the great great Vera Lynn and the great great Marlene Dietrich.
But that’s not all:
I also enjoy listening to metal music: In Flames, Deftones, Volbeat, Five Finger Death Punch, Killswitch Engage... Yes, you read it right!

Do you feel that wearing a red lip enhances the way you feel? Do you have a perfect go-to red lipstick? 

Flawless skin is the most important thing, then red lips. Red is a timeless symbol of elegance. Yes of course! Because red lipstick is a timeless classic, worn by elegant people and movie stars all over the world for many decades. It is the most feminine color, the color of the fantasy " femme fatale " woman, which symbolizes seduction and glamour. Men are drawn to it, women feel confident wearing it. It gives power and a sense of mystery. Red lipstick is the ultimate weapon in the art of make up.

Your brows are impeccably structured. How do maintain them and make them so perfect? Do they hold a strong importance in your beauty routine? 

The secret of beauty: perfect eyebrows. It’s no secret that I am obsessed with eyebrows. More often than not, eyebrows are overlooked. Many women really underestimate the power of amazing eyebrows. I read the book „Beautiful Brows“ by Nancy Parker with a lot of photos of before - after look. You must have a feeling to discover the best brow shape for your face. Well-groomed brows can make you look polished and bring focus to your eyes, while ungroomed brows can make your overall look messy, and over plucked brows are just, well, scary.  Draw an imaginary line from the tear duct peak to the outer edge of the iris. This point indicates where the top of the arch should sit. Fill in sparse areas on the eyebrows with a sharpened eyebrow pencil. Apply light strokes over the existing hairs. Choose a brow pencil that matches the natural color of your eyebrows.

Do you have any advice for girls wanting to try the vintage look but are nervous about taking the plunge? 

You should wear what you want, and when you wear it with confidence, who has the right to criticize someone who looks good and feels good? Wear what makes you feel beautiful. And if you feel beautiful in what you're wearing, other people will pick up on that vibe and see how beautiful you really are.

Hope you enjoyed.

If you have any other questions - write an email on:

aidadjapo@hotmail.com 

or message me on my facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/IddavanMunster

As always sending lots of love,

Idda van Munster

Review of the new Max Factor products.

This post is going to be a review of the new Max Factor products.  

I was lucky enough to be sent some pieces, including Max Factor Facefinity All Day Flawless 3-in-1, nailpolish, eyeliner and more, from the lovely people at 

MAX FACTOR Bosnia and Hercegovina. 

Thank you so much - hope you will be satisfied with my review!

Now, on to the review!

1. Starting with the foundation:

Max Factor Facefinity All Day Flawless 3-In-1 Foundation is a multi-tasking foundation that is a primer, concealer and foundation in one. It was developed for women who want their foundation to easily deliver a long lasting professional finish, which diminishes the need for imperfection touch-ups and stops the undesirable midday shine. It contains “Micro Correctors” (I’m not sure what these are!) which are supposed to help protect from sweat and excess sebum. This also contains SPF20 which, if you are a frequent reader, will know that I always look for SPF in make-up products.

The foundation itself, is quite liquidy in texture, which makes it really easy to apply and blend into the skin.

The shade I chose was Nude 47, thinking it would suit my skin tone.

So, let me show you the coverage on my face, since I guess that’s the important part if you are looking at this review!

It was really easy to apply and it covered most of the redness on my skin and evened out the skin as well. So for the concealer part and foundation part, this is pretty good, it leaves the skin soft although I can feel I have foundation on if I touch my face.

What about the primer part? I deliberately didn’t apply my own Primer because I wanted to test out the claim that it keeps your face matte all day. And you know what? It’s actually really good! I was shine free 10 hours, which is a really good deal. The foundation also contains SPF, but this isn’t really something extra because a lot of foundations contain SPF. And even if your foundation contains SPF, you still need to use a face cream to make sure your face is fully protected from sun damage. Well, I've got to say this is by far one of the best foundations I have ever had! It leaves you're skin so soft and silky, also it's so easy to apply and doesn't really clog up on the face. 

What do you think?

2. Lets try the eyeliner:

Max Factor - Colour X-Pert Waterproof Eyeliner - his eyeliner is a liquid eyeliner, that has several colours - the colour I'm showing today is black.

The most important thing when selecting your liquid eyeliner is to have a good look at the applicator. This one is made of a kind of sponge and shaped into a point, so it’s ideal. It means you can apply a thin line or a thicker one and the sponge gives you so much more control than a brush. If you haven’t used a liquid eyeliner before, this is an easy applicator to perfect your straight line and flick motion with.

The eyeliner is really pigmented, and applies great colour after just one application. With the applicator, it is simple to use and gives you a lot of control. The eyeliner dries quickly and leaves a stunning black look on your line above your eye lashes. It has good staying power, and lasts throughout the day. It is water proof, but doesn't take a lot to come off with make up remover.

I really love this product. I would definitely recommend it!

3. Really important for me - my nails:

Personally, I've always wanted the absolute red. This is a sophisticated sense of color and glamour that epitomizes classic. This is very typical and expressive look, and I dominated and ended in 110 shades of Red Passion Glossfinity.

The formula is quite good, it’s thick without being gloopy, and it’s easy to apply. It takes two coats to reach opacity.

It says “for up to 7 days” on the bottle. I can’t remember if I have ever actually worn a polish for that many days in a row!

Your nails say a lot, but no nail choosing can be a key moment. This is a personal message that others noticed. They see you every day, seven days a week. So the nails should not only look good, but they look good in those seven days.

I always do my nails with the half moon manicure. You like it too?

4. Lips:

Max Factor Colour Elixir lipsticks are available in 15 shades. I love the shade 853 Chilli.

“Chilli” is a dark red kinda plum color, with a bit of shimmer in it. The color is really nice for fall and again I like using just a tiny bit for day.

and here the final look:

Have you tried these products? What do you think?

Write a comment or e-mail me if you have any questions aidadjapo@hotmail.com

Hope you enjoyed.

Thanks for reading.

With love,

Idda van Munster

Autumn days. One day - two outfits.

Hello dear readers! 

It's a while since I've been here and it's really lovely to be back again. I honestly and truly dislike being such an erratic blogger but hopefully I'll get myself organised and be much more consistent with the posts. Sorry, I'm always so busy...

The weather has changed dramatically since my last post and autumn is really settling in.

Yesterday, I smell summer and autumn at the same time and I realized I definitely love the fall the same as the summer, but in a different way - so you can wear two outfits in one day.

Isn't autumn special?

I love how it's still warm enough to go out without an overcoat but not really warm enough for just a sweater. I love the hazy mornings and the feel of the sun on my face. The autumn sun feels very different from the summer sun. It's gentler somehow and calmer.

Today post is a little special, I decided to add two outfits I wore in one day, the first one is what I wore for a day walk: red rose 1950's Dovima dress with an elastic vintage belt - white 1930's T-strap shoes, white leather vintage bag and black 1950's hat.

The second outfit was for to visited and walk the city when it was a little colder outside.

I love the feeling of cosy evenings, warm coats and scarves, cooler days and changing leaves.  I think it might just be my favourite time of the year.

I wore a 1940's maroon pencil skirt - vintage black T-strap shoes  - Doctor bag and a warm black sweater with a pearl brooch on it.

I've done my nails again - half moon manicure with silver base  and maroon metallic color.

I love autumn, we are surrounded by woodland so the walks at this time of year are lovely.

With love,

Idda van Munster

Inspired by dark vintage vamp beauties.

Darlings, just a quick post tonight on this lovely vintage vamp look. This look from the silent film era began emerging in the mid-1910′s and continued to play strongly into the post-WWI emphasis for heavier makeup and more sexualized beauty.  The dark eyes, evoking the sinister sexuality of the female vampire (or “vamp”), are also a nod to the vogue for Orientalism and all things exotic at the time, deliciously embodied by the striking Theda Bara  in the banner pic left. Hope this gets your creative juices flowing for Halloween, my dears…

The silent film era of the 1920's was full of glamorous movie stars, such as Louise Brooks, Pola Negri, Pina Menichelli and Clara Bow. Women were mysterious, beautiful and heavily made up for the camera. The look was very distinct and included short, wavy hair, dark crimson lips and sparse eyebrows. This is a perfect look for a 1920's party or a Halloween costume. You don't have to be a makeup artist to do this yourself, but there are specific things to do to create a realistic silent film star look!

The makeup:

I think this is really beautiful feminine, yet dark and mysterious look; the roaring 1920's were called so for a reason; short skirts and dark makeup.

The 1920's vamp had a pale face, dramatic eyes and eyebrows and crimson lips. The basic look was powdered and pale. Women used loose powder, slightly lighter than their natural color, and never applied it to their bare skin. They would apply powder on a puff to their face (still moist from facial cream) to create a pasty look. The modern method is to apply foundation and dust all over with powder. 

The hair:

Marcel waves can be tricky to create, especially when you have longer hair. Since this was a hairstyle popular in the late 1920's/early 1930's, when many women had bob haircuts, it'd be much easier to accomplish with a short haircut. 

Anyway, there are some tricks to creating this look, but some do require using a curling iron or flat iron. My cousin bought me in Berlin Iron Babyliss Pro Wave 3 Branches - I'm so happy and satisfied with it!

I learned how to create Marcel waves with fingers too, maybe this will help you: creating finger waves.

Recreating the Twenties look with vintage is do-able but good condition clothing is both expensive and hard to find. A good starting point is etsy.com.

My look for a 1920's party:

For this look - I've done my nails with a 1930's manicure.

As you can see, only the center of the fingernail was painted. The half-moons and the tips were left bare.
I love this photo of Joan Crawford, it's got such atmosphere and style, and just look at that manicure!

I'm sorry for not posting lately.

I'm ALWAYS so busy.

Hope I'll have more free time in the future to share with you outfits, inspirations and everything about my lifestyle.

HAPPY EARLY HALLOWEEN!

With love,

Idda van Munster