Guest Post Series: Faces of Spring, Shelynx from "Der Blasse Schimmer"

Hi, there. Normally I write as “Shelynx” on my own Blog “Der Blasse Schimmer” (The Faintest Idea or The Palest Glow a pun not working in English) and I do immensely enjoy to be able to fill a lovely gap in Sara’s Spring Favorites while she enjoys her holidays! Especially since my own Spring Favorites drastically changed this year in contrast to the habits of the past.

This year I am a little lipstick obsessed and more daring concerning colours so one of them had to take it’s part today. There are some old and some new favorites.

Complexion

If my skin likes me (combination skin, sensitive, blemishes) I enjoy lightweight foundations by now as soon as it gets warmer. BUT I love my skin to look polished and - since I am very pale and don’t want to look sallow- healthy and glowing from within.

If the skin is great by itself I love the MAC Prep & Prime CC Color Correcting SPF30 Cream in adjust. Lovely, lightwight. I’d recommend wearing another SPF underneath since you only use a very small amount of the base (and you need a tablespoon full to achieve SPF30 with it) but it’s been my go to base summer 2014. Love it! - If i need a little more coverage (and still just a light to medium coverage) I reach for the SHISEIDO Sheer & Perfect Foundation. I love Shiseido Foundations, all of them are gorgeous, but this one is special. Though the coverage is really sheer there is no other foundation you can see the light reflecting techniques many claim as much. The complexion seems so healthy and glowing without shining or coverage… it’s the kind of effect where you wonder “Is the girl with that gorgeous skin wearing foundation at all? I can’t see it!”. And you’re lucky ones, too… here in Germany they don’t sell the lightest shade I00 (I am a NC10). I got mine by a travelling friend and will be very, very sad when finishing it. Though the shade (I20) was a little bit too dark for me, you can get an impression of the effect on the photos here in my review.

SMASHBOX Blush Rush Chiffon is one of those Blushes anyone could wear. It’s fresh, pinkish-peachy and absolutely beautiful. Some compare it to NARS Orgasm, but I do find it more flattering. It fit’s to a lot of looks due to its dual nature in pink and peach, both. And I’ve seen it on very fair to deep skinned women!

I love light bronzers. Most of them turn to orangy on my skin but I find that the right ones can really make a difference especially to very natural looks. Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow is absolutely beautiful. I wouldn’t contour with it since the bronzer shade has some shimmer to it, but as a bronzer reflecting the first rays of spring sun … absolutely gorgeous.

LIPS

It’s always a good idea to find a lip pencil that fits your normal lip colour. Especially when you’re not 20 any more the lip contour can be a little bit too pale and defining the outline gives a wonderful effect that doesn’t seem made-up. My perfect lip liner ist BOBBI BROWN Lip Liner in Beige. It’s a warm toned apricot-rose. Even if you’re not a lip liner person… you need a lip liner fitting to your natural lips and you’ll be much happier with every look you’ll ever do.

For those “My Lips But Better” days… get the Clarins Instant Light Lip Perfector in My Pink. The shade transforms in contact with your skin to a more or less individual pinkish colour and is very elegant, beautiful and absolutely hydrating for the lips. - Now to something absolutely new to me: expressive and bold lips. Of course I do own my reds… but due to my hair colour I never really look to the more extreme side of the rainbow. But this spring I want colour! I want radiant, vibrant colour on my lips! And I found it in MAC Fusion Pink. A shimmering pink-coral. It’s so radiant, bold and complex in its shine… sometimes nearly reddish, sometimes pink to the extreme. You can see me wearing it here, too. I love it immensely. A very fine lip liner for it would be MAC Chic Trick by the way.

EYES

Shiseido launched very new shades of their Shimmering Cream Eye Color and I personally fell in love with Lavande (VI226). It is so beautiful and a perfect shade for spring, easy to apply and built. A silvery lavender violet with a very unique texture. Very smooth. All of the Shiseido Cream Eye Colors are as you can see here, where I introduced some deeper shades.

On the picture below you can see CHARLOTTE TILBURY Filmstar Bronze & Highlight, SMASHBOX Blush Rush in Chiffon and MAC Fusion Pink in action. What do you say? Spring-worthy? I love the combination and I love my Spring Look 2015 to be radiant, noticeable (after years of very natural looks). This year I want to focus on great and glowy skin, natural eyes with great Mascara (by the way… I am absolutely impressed by ISADORA Volume Lash Styler, it’s the one I used for this look, too) and vibrant lips.

PERFUMES

Writing about perfumes is my personal love letter to my senses. I love perfumes. For me they’re like pieces of clothing or accessories. You attire in them!

And as clothes there are some perfumes you neglect during a special season. I want to introduce some of my spring scents. MARC JACOBS Daisy has been a typical spring/summer scent for me for ages. It’s cheeky and elegant at the same time, stylish yet playful. It’s beautiful. BVLGARI Petits et Mamans is something very special to me. It smells - in a very adorable way - like baby powder. Fresh, innocent, powdery. Sometimes I use it when I go to bed since the scent calms me and makes me very happy. It’s the most beautiful innocent scent I do know. And I do know some.

Here comes something very special… but hush! dont’t tell… I find it a hidden treasure. It’s a scent that exists since 1906, but it’s an exploding fresh garden after rain during the first seconds, calming down to something earthy and fragile. Guerlain Aprés L’Ondée has been my newest discovery and it’s a scent nearly forgotten, but still there. You HAVE to give it about 20 minutes on skin… (at first I was a little bit shocked by it’s first very green and anis nuances). It’s a unique process like a dance and something you’re not used to in modern perfume architecture. Last but not least a scent many might know. Jo Malone Peony & Blush Suede. Though developed as a scent for autumn I find it very springlike. A powdery-flowery scent with suede notes that stand out even more when combined with Jo Malone Wood Sage & Sea Salt.

BOTTOM LINE

In spring I love there to be glowy and bare, beautiful skin (at least bare looking… ) in my looks. But in contrast to the last years I want much more vibrant lips! Spring Colours with that nearly aggressive intensity that young leaves and first blossoms show!

• great and glowy skin


• natural eyes with beautiful lashes


• vibrant lips

And I love my perfume to be delicate and lighter than my winter scents. Most of the time they share a powdery, musky quality with varying strength or depth. But I allow more flowers in my spring perfumes, more freshness and innocence.

I do hope you enjoyed this article and got some ideas for your own Spring Favorites to come! Please feel free to leave me your comments, ideas for products or looks or your very own favorites! I’d love to read your thoughts!

SHELYNX || German Beauty Blogger for “Der Blasse Schimmer” a blog mostly about perfume, skincare and cosmetics for sensitive and fair skin - but not exlusively! || Hybrid-Nerd || Cat & Book Lover || Tango Dancer || Dreamer || Working Academic || Croissant Peeler ||