Kat von D beauty haul from London

Kat von D Beauty came to London at exactly the right time. Her collection launched at Debenhams only a couple of days before Bon Jovi brought us to town and I couldn't have been more excited. Kat von D beauty is my favourite make-up brand by far. They are the company that makes the one foundation that matches my skin tone perfectly, they are the best at eyeliners, contour powders, eye shadows and do amazing lip products as well. Needless to say that we made the most of the opportunity and spent a little too much money while we were at it. So here is, a little later than expected, a closer look at everything I bought at the (then) brand-new KvD counter in London.

Bon Jovi at the London Palladium - 10/10/16

It's a little after eight when the lights go dim and I sit with a racing heart and the kind of knot in my stomach that I haven't felt for 3,5 years. I am about to see Bon Jovi again, in the heart of London, only a couple of blocks down from where it all ended on the last European tour. I feel excited, I feel overwhelmed and maybe I even feel a tiny bit sceptical of what is about to come. My expectations are high but I decided to go in with as little knowledge as possible. I've heard the four songs that have been officially released so far and only loved one of them. The other three I thought were alright.

Is that a good place to start? I don't know, but there is no time to think about it. Tico takes his position behind the drums, David grins as he steps behind the keys, our saviour Phil and our cool-guy Hugh take their places, Shanks is there too. Jon comes walking on, steady and slow, head to toe in black, big smile on. I smile back at no-one in particular and everyone all at once, thinking I'm home and realising I'm already getting sentimental. So here's what happened next...

London Calling

I can't come up with a sentence to start this blogpost. I keep trying and erasing and nothing feels good enough so I think I'm just going to cut to the chase. I am seeing Bon Jovi in London on Monday. That is right, it looks like the tour-side of this blog is going to be kick-started earlier than I thought.

things I want to happen next tour that probably won't

Jon in London 2013 by me
(the hand representing how I feel when I reach for these wishes)

Now that the new Backstage JBJ went live and with Matt constantly dropping hints about te tour announcement coming soon I found myself thinking about the things that I want to happen on (the European) tour. So that is what this is. An unrealistic list of wishes for the upcoming tour in no particular order.

current make-up essentials

I love experimenting with make-up as much as the next make-up lover. I definitely don't need a special occasion to go out with red glossy eyelids or a bright purple lip. However, I do have my essentials that I end up using for almost every single look. Non of these are very original products or groundbreaking discoveries but for me, the combination of these products is the perfect base for whatever look I am going for.

the brighton diaries

I went travelling again, didn't I? Brighton was the destination of choice this time and I had the best time. I fell in love with the city when I was there for a couple of days last october and fell in love even more now, when we stayed for an entire week and had all the time in the world to get completely lost in it. Brighton just has everything I love: individual colourful shops and little cafes, cute alleys and lanes, art, a huge lgbt community, creativity, and of course the beach.

Now, I planned on doing a haul-post much like the one I wrote about Toronto but I actually only bought a Mac eyeshadow refill in the mermaidy shade 'Steamy' to put in one of the palettes me and my girlfriend own together (I know, the benefits are endless...) and two wild eyeliners (NYX vivd brights in the shade Blossom)  and gold (Lush shade Fantasy). And even though  I've had a lot of fun walking around with dots of gold underneath my eyes there is only so much I can say about that. So instead I thought I could list my favourite spots/things we did. Most of it is going to be extremely touristy and I doubt anyone who has ever been will learn something new, but everything in that town i just so pretty and worth a mention so here we go.

This House Is Not For Sale: when release-day comes early

 

When the new single of your favourite band premieres one day early most people just give their opinion in a Facebook post. But not me. I had to go and write a blogpost about the unexpected turn my morning took. So read ahead for a little sneak-peak inside my little fangirl mind.

 

Top 5: Bon Jovi concerts (that I attended)

Barcelona 2011 ~ by me

Although you will probably read this much, much later I am currently high above the world, somewhere near Ottowa according to the screens on this plane, trying to ignore the tiniest of bumps that most of the other passengers probably don’t even notice. I hate flying and even though my level of anxiety has been way worse and will be worse than it is as I am writing this, I am still nowhere near relaxed enough to fall asleep. So that’s how I ended up here, because as I am listening to Bon Jovi’s 2013 Cologne show I realise once again that they are the only thing that at least kind of succeeds to calm me down at moments like these. 

I also realised that Cologne probably still is one of the best shows I have seen them play. And that is how we ended up here. So without further ado I present to you my top 5 favourite Bon Jovi shows (that I attended). 

What I did in Toronto: Sephora Haul

It's been almost two months since my last blogpost so let's just put an end to my good intentions right away. Apparently I really don't have it within me to keep a blog up to date. In all honesty though I also have been really busy (playing Pokemon Go) and I even travelled across the Atlantic. Which is what broad me here today because I happened to have been to the magical land of Sephora. Or, actually, one of the magical lands of Sephora. I went to Toronto, Canada to visit my friend Nikita for a week and during my stay I shamelessly dragged her into every Sephora around town exactly seven times. But since us Europeans are only rarely blessed with a sighting of a Sephora-store across the continent, I thought it might be interesting to do a little Sephora haul.

Gerard Cosmetics Hydra Matte liquid lipstick review

Now here is something I've been meaning to write for a long while. But then Mumford happened, and Mumford happened again and for the longest time the formula of a couple of liquid lipsticks was the last thing on my mind. Because oh my God I love them and oh dear God, they were amazing. The good thing though is that while I was busy being distracted by Marcus Mumford's voice (and face), I had the chance to try these Gerard Cosmetics liquid lips out for a good while and now I've got a few things to say.

insert every working man-themed lyric Jon ever wrote

Okay, I feel like I can't write this post without starting off with a series of disclaimers, the biggest disclaimer here being that I haven't slept last night, so here we go: I am going to sound selfish and I know people in the USA have been dealing with this for much longer. I honestly am only writing this now because while this was still happening over in the USA, the possibility for me to go was even more unrealistic, but that doesn't mean it hasn't bothered me before. And yes, I know I am not the only one who feels this way. I also know I have been lucky so far for seeing as many shows as I have, especially at my age but that knowledge doesn't make me less sad at this moment.

happy birthday dear JBJ

I love Jon every single day of my life but there are specific moments when I love him even more and since it's his birthday and he is actually 54 years old today, I thought I could list a few of them.

silver hair 101

I never did anything remotely wild with my hair before I started bleaching it last year. I just forever dyed it blonde. I have to say though that the bleaching process has been quite an adventure and there are a lot of things I wish I had known before I decided to go all ice queen on my hair. So to prevent you from making the same mistakes I listed some important things that the gorgeous Instagram photos and quick YouTube tutorials never told me.

the endless wait for a tour announcement and how to deal with it

It's kind of a strange moment in Bon Jovi world to be writing about them. We know a lot is going to happen. They keep telling us a lot is going to happen. But all we see is pictures of Jon running in a t-shirt he's had for ten years or of him at some fancy event, of which I have no clue why he is there half of the time. David is always out there somewhere playing music with his buds and Tico, well we don't really see him but we accept that he is probably playing golf or making art under the sun. But every now and then, when we really start to accept it's not going to happen any time soon Jon goes and mentions it in some interview. "It's happening and it's going to be big."

So we trust him like we always do, even though he has proven more than once that sometimes we shouldn't. Next month could easily mean next year, or somewhere in the next six. And let's not even talk about how he still believes leathers shirts are a good look for a man in his fifties. But apparently unbuttoned leather shirts and an acoustic remake of all the songs we love are forgivable so we wait.

I'm not saying it's easy and I'm definitely not saying we do it patiently. But there are a few things that I feel make it a little more bearable for us so I decided to list my favourite things.

a new direction

You know what, as with anything in my life forever, I already changed my mind about this blog.

What? Really? You only wrote one blogpost.

Well, yes, but I guess I just realised I am never going to be one of those perfect, sophisticated, beauty bloggers. Who was I even kidding. If I have to be at work before 10am, I am going to show up with no make up, in whatever sweater I found on my floor. If I take slightly aesthetic looking photos of products, I take them on a sheet of paper or my bed covers and just turn the brightness up to a level where you can no longer tell. And let's be real, why would I want to be one of those bloggers. There already are many, many people doing that exact same thing. And way better as well.

There are however two things that really excite me in life. Bon Jovi and make-up. And when I buy my 600th red lipstick in the exact same shade as the other ones I want to write about it. But when I said I only ever did a successful blog about Bon Jovi, I should have realised that I am only ever going to make a frequently updated blog if Bon Jovi is involved.

So here's what we are going to do. I am going to blog about beauty and Bon Jovi because those are the things I want to write about. And I know the combination is odd but it's right for me.

So from now on you can expect updates on the Bon Jovi things that are happening in my life (which at this moment are only very few, yes Jon, I am side-eyeing you and your non-existent tour dates so hard) and updates on beauty finds, make-up favourites and anything else that has to do with those two subjects.

I'm also not going to change my mind about it this time. Ask anyone I met in the past 16 years, they are still waiting for me to realise there are better bands out there than Bon Jovi. (Which of course, if absolutely, definitely, not true.)

xx Anjelica

exposing my nudes

I've been obsessed with dark red lipsticks for the longest time, to a point where I could literally wear Mac Diva for months in a row. Lately though, I find myself falling in love with more and more nude shades. I still love a bold lip and I will probably always go back to reds and purples but at this moment it's the nudes that I reach for the most. I love that they are more natural and a little less out there but what I probably like the most is the 90s feel they have to them.

I wasn't sure when exactly would be the right time to post this article though because I'm constantly adding new (vaguely different) shades to my collection but at this moment I do have a couple of favourites that i'd like to share with you, so let's do it.