Hi. I’m Siri of Scribbled With Liner which is mostly about makeup but sometimes my wee furbaby Teyla steals the show with one of her posts often featuring the Northern-Norwegian scenery. We live in a small city placed approximately 69° north, so we get the northern lights, the midnight sun and the tourists coming to see it.
I am very excited to do a guest post here on Color Me Loud, because it’s one of my favourite blogs to read, and Sara’s been one of the people who, through their blogs, inspired me to do my own – which isn’t getting too much attention at the moment due to a dissertation I’m working on, but there are a few posts on there that I’m quite pleased with, so feel free to visit.
Sara suggested that we do a post with products we’re loving, perhaps featuring a regional trend. An idea I took to heart and started pondering. She mentioned a German trend of wearing foundations three shades too dark, one I can relate to, as that’s more often than not the case up here as well, even amongst the elderly who will pop by the shop requesting the sales assistant (in a lot of cases myself) to find them a foundation, but balk at my suggestions insisting the shades are too pale. They want it to bring more colour to their faces.
More prevalent, thankfully, is the trend of going for the simplest makeup possible. BB and CC creams were a godsend to many a Norwegian woman as they offer a bit of coverage and simplicity. Also, a lot of the foundations of recent years offer up a quite natural finish and are very easy to apply which goes down very well with the leading culture.
Basically, lightweight, simple, and toss-into-your-bag-stuff that’ll make us look good while going through our days – the trending lifestyle at the moment seems to be very active with frequent visits to the gym, skiing and running in between work and family life. So obviously, you have to go quickly about whatever you put on your face, it has to be versatile, and if you’re not a working mom you’d best have a contouring product stuffed into your gym bag as well.
I was going to go with the sun kissed look that is, somewhat ironic considering the amount of sun we’re getting, and use Guerlain’s Joli Teint foundation, but I went for a run first, and my flushed face called for something more cooling, so instead I opted for another about-to-become-a-staple foundation, namely Lancôme’s Miracle Cushion.
Because I am a makeup junkie, unlike most Norwegians I have several primers, and going by specific needs that day, I’ll switch it up or do one in my t-zone and one for the rest of my face. A lot of people however will have slapped on their BB cream, bronzer and mascara by now and be done with. I’ll add a bit of concealer (Clarins Instant Concealer is one of my faves due to buildable coverage) and powder to set. I like me a bit of glow, but I also want my powder products to go on evenly. I’m fussy like that.
My favourite product for everyday shading and sculpting – I’m a bit over the kontour like Kim K kind of thing – is Benefit’s Hoola which I’ll apply to the sides of my nose, along my jaw, underneath my cheekbones and at my temples. A more recent staple is Guerlain’s newly launched Jolie Teint powder duo in 03. I could, of course, stop after the Hoola, but the Joli Teint adds a bit more warmth and subtle flush that lends a bit more glow to my face.
Brows are getting a lot of attention these days, my personal favourite being Anastasia’s Dip Brow pomade, often combined with whatever brow pencil I have on hand. Bonus points goes to the Dip Brow for functioning as a liner as well if I want to wear another trend – the feline flick.
Eyes are kept simple, with Nars’ Dual-Intensity eyeshadow in Himalia applied on top of Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden (one of my can’t-live-without- products) all over the moving lid and blended into the crease. And from here it’s all a matter of whether one has time for doing eyeliner before applying those mandatory coatings of mascara, or which lipstick or gloss you’re wearing. I love that red lipstick is no longer reserved for old aunties, but is being embraced by women of all ages. Here I’m wearing Esteé Lauder Pure Color Envy Sculpting Lipstick in Impassioned.
So that’s the reigning Norwegian trend complicated by yours truly.