Volgers

zaterdag 5 januari 2013

Hi, World!

I may as well get this over with: my first blog post. Ironically, I start this just as I come off an enormous beauty binge and have resolved to simplify my life (or in any case my beauty bag) and actually use some of the gorgeous things I have.
I would like to introduce myself and share how I came to start this blog. I am over 40 (never thought that would happen!), originally South African and now live in the Netherlands. I am a paediatrician by profession and I work in a hospital part-time. I am married and the mom of two little boys.

And I am a shopaholic!

Until last summer, however, I never really had the beauty bug. I'd buy *some* makeup at the beginning of each new season, usually from Chanel and Bobbi Brown. Then last summer I got the darkest tan I have ever had (serious sun in Italy, and being of mixed race I tan easily despite factor 50) and needed some new stuff. I was cornered by the very nicest Guerlain SA EVER and spent a fortune. I was so happy with my new purchases and look, but couldn't share them with any real life friends, all of whom would have given me seriously funny looks if I'd started on about my new foundation, bronzer, eyeshadow palettes and blushes!! So I googled them, and found Temptalia. A whole new world, the world of beauty bloggers and blog followers, opened up to me!!! I couldn't and still can't stop reading and ogling and, alas, trying and buying (and sometimes trying without buying-- Nars, for example, is not available in the Netherands!).

I love Temptalia as a resource, she is seriously professional, but for a good girlie read I prefer Vivianna Does Makeup, Whatihearttoday, The Beauty Look Book, Beauty Lab, Messy Wands, Makeup and Beauty Blog and 15 steps, then a beauty blog. Among others!

My makeup collection kind of exploded. Already having a similar colour or product was no longer a contra-indication to buying something similar. There were so many must-haves. And I kind of got them all. At least once a week I told myself I'd found THE Holy Grail x (insert: mascara, eyeshadow palette, lipstick etc) and need never buy anything ever again. Until I saw the next raved-about new product!

However, the storage space in my house can only take so much, and I can only wear one "look" per day. So I've decided to stop purchasing for a while, and to share and enjoy the things I have right now.

The usual "Beauty stats": I am of mixed race, Mac NC 40-42, Bobbi Brown Warm Natural, Nars Stromboli mixed with a hint of Syracuse, though I've come to suspect that maybe Barcelona would be perfect. I have dark, hooded eyes, very dark hair and sensitive combination skin which can get a bit dehydrated in winter and oily in summer. I wear (Jill Sander) glasses!

I will hopefully not only post about beauty, but also about fashion, lifestyle/home improvements, travel, motherhood, and random ponderings. I want this blog to be about all things that make life beautiful, not only about makeup.

My other interests are reading (English and Dutch, adult and children's books), fashion, travel, photography, though I am a rank amateur, architecture and exercise.

I hope to acquire some fellow travelers on my journey; if you're out there, give me a shout!
And er...I need to figure out how to get pictures onto this thing.