Review | MAC Pro Long Wear Concealer in NC15

On my hunt for the perfect concealer I came across the Pro Long Wear Concealer from MAC. A friend of mine used it and really liked it. I was lucky enough to get it for my birthday so there I went.. Is this going to be the one?

This is the second concealer from MAC that I am trying. I already have the MAC Studio Finish Concealer in my stash and I think that concealer is pretty good. I only get a very oily finish after a while. This one, on the other hand, is definitely different!

MAC Pro Long Wear Concealer 9 ml / 0.30 US fl oz €18.00

According to MAC:

‘‘A lightweight fluid concealer that provides medium to full coverage with a comfortable, natural matte finish. Colour-true formula lasts up to 15 hours. Helps conceal and correct the look of under-eye circles, and discolorations. Comes in a clear glass vial with a matte black pump.’’

Apart from the colour, this is NC15, it has a completely different formula. It comes in a glass bottle with a pump. Nice and hygienic, but you easily squeeze out to much. That is just a waste of product, so not very convenient. It has a scent, but is not to overpowering in any way.

This concealer has a creamy, liquid consistency. It blends very nicely into the skin, leaving a matte finish. It pretty much covers up anything!

In a lot of acne coverage videos on YouTube, girls used this as a foundation to cover up there blemishes and scarring. I agree with this. It definitely gives a good amount of coverage for all kinds of imperfections. Although as a foundation you would have to purchase it a lot throughout the year! This will not be very nice for your bank account..

As the name says it stays on your face for a long time. Of course I never wear my face make-up for 15 hours, but I think it would last all those hours. I also find my t-zone stays more matte than when I use the MAC Studio Finish Concealer. So I would definitely recommend this concealer for people with combination/oily skin.

I like to use my Zoeva Concealer Buffer to blend it in. It makes it easier and more hygienic than using my fingers.

I am pleasantly surprised by this concealer. It covers up all my imperfections and gives my skin a matte and flawless finish. If you are looking for a concealer that stays on for ages and covers up your scarring and blemishes, than this is the one to go for!

I am still on the hunt for good concealers, though. If you have found the one, please let me know. I would love to try it!

Food | Gluten-Free Pizza with Butternut Squash Base

About two weeks ago I came across this recipe on Niomi Smarts blog. I am really into healthy eating at the moment, so a healthy pizza sounds pretty good to me.

After my trip to the organic food store I made this pizza. I changed some of the ingredients and measurements into my own liking, and just what we had at home.

I have to say this pizza is super yummy! It sometimes tastes a bit sweet, because of the almonds (and maybe the pumpkin?) but with the right toppings you hardly taste it. It feels good that I am eating a pizza that is super yummy and so healthy as well.

Ingredients for 1 pizza:

Base:
1 Butternut Squash
100 grams of Almond Flour
140 grams of Buckwheat Flour
3 tbsp. of Flaxseed
1 tsp. of Italian Herbs
A Sprinkle of Salt and Pepper

Pesto Sauce:
A Large Handful of Fresh Raw Spinach
About 25 Cashew nuts
About 10-15 Fresh Basil Leaves
Juice of 1/2 Lemon

A bit of Garlic Powder or Fresh Garlic (depending on what you find handy)
A Sprinkle of Salt and Pepper
A generous shot of Olive Oil

Toppings:
Just put on the pizza whatever you like! I had the following ingredients on mine:

Mozzarella

Goat Cheese

Extra Spinach Leaves

Grilles Chicken

Slices of Tomato

Cherry tomatoes

Fresh Baby Leaves

Extra Pepper

What will you need to bake this pizza:
1 Deep Roasting Tray
Baking Tray
Food Processor 

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 200C. Cut the butternut squash in half and scoop all the pumpkin seeds out. I also cut the head of the pumpkin. No idea if this is necessary!

Step 2

Lay the pumpkin half’s in the deep roasting tray and fill it with water, until they are half emerged. That should be enough! You can always add more water, though. Put them in the oven for about 45-60 minutes. If they are soft, they are perfect! You can check by sticking a fork in the pumpkin. Get the pumpkin out and let it cool off.

Step 3

Mix two tablespoons of flaxseeds with four tablespoons of water and set aside until you need it. It will become very pasty in a minute or so!

Step 4

When the butternut squash is cooled down you can scoop all the squash flesh out. It can be a bit messy, but that makes cooking even more fun!

Put all the squash flesh in a large bowl and add the almond flour, buckwheat flour, soaked flaxseeds, Italian herbs, salt and pepper and an extra tablespoon of flaxseeds to make it even healthier!

I think chia seeds or hemp seeds would also be a great addition to the base, now that I think about it!

Step 5

Stir everything together until it is smooth and dough-like. Get your baking tray and lay it with some parchment paper. Put the squash mixture on here and spread it evenly. Put the pizza base in the oven for 30-35 minutes on 200C.

Step 6

While the base is baking in the oven we can make the pesto sauce. I never had pesto as a sauce base on my pizza, so I found it very interesting!

Just put the spinach, basil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, garlic powder, cashews and olive oil in the blender. Mix it for a while until everything is smooth and voilà there you have your homemade pesto!

Step 7

When the base is out of the oven it is time to decorate! Put the green, pesto sauce on the pizza base and leave the ends open for a nice, crusty pizza look. Spread it out evenly and then add your toppings. As is said earlier, I added tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, goat cheese, grilled chicken and spinach leaves.

Step 8

Put it back in the oven for 10 minutes and your pizza should be all good! Add some fresh baby leaves and a sprinkle of pepper and your homemade, healthy pizza is done!

A super yummy pizza, that is healthy and very filling! I will definitely make this one again!

Food | Healthy Eating

Photo: Tumblr

Since the beginning of April I am eating very healthy. Not that I didn’t eat healthy before. Believe me, I have been putting flaxseeds in my oatmeal for ages and always ate lots of fruit and veggies. The thing is beside that I love yummy, but bad, food as well.

At my mom we always have ‘‘bad’’ things in the house. Since I am living with my dad this month I do not have those temptations there. We just don’t have any cookies or other yummy things around, so I had to find my own yummy, healthy treats to keep me satisfied.

I have been obsessed with porridge for a while know. I just love it and it keeps me satisfied for such a long time. I will put recipes up of dishes I just absolutely love. But if you can’t wait that long: here are the things I love to eat to keep myself healthy and satisfied.

Rice crackers with hummus

OMG, this is heaven! I love hummus so, so much and the rice crackers are light and low in calories. Amazing lunch or just a healthy snack!

Whole wheat crackers with avocado and a sprinkle of salt and pepper

I love avocado’s; no joke. I eat A LOT of avocado. I just think they are very yummy and they are good for the skin!

Porridge with fresh strawberries

This awesome breakfast or lunch is so filling and super yummy. The strawberries give it a sweet taste and it makes you feel satisfied for such a long time!

Dates

Just a nice and healthy snack. They are so sweet and yummy. Also great to make healthy, coconut balls!

All these foods have resulted in amazing skin! I also drink lots of water and green tea! The perfect combination for good skin!

I will definitely keep up my healthy eating habits. In the weekends I allow myself to eat a few unhealthy things, which is okay in my opinion. As a human you just need to indulge yourself with some yummy treats from time to time!

What are your favourite, healthy foods?

Fashion | A Few Bits from Primark, Zara and H&M

Last week I had the urge to shop. Do you have that as well, when you just NEED to shop! I went to Amsterdam and browsed online and this is what I ended up with. I can't promise you that I won't buy anything else, but for now these are my new bits!

A Bright, Pink Flowercrown
Another flowercrown? YES! My flowercrown addiction is getting a bit out of hand but I love them! This one is also from Primark. It was the only nice thing I could find, which is normally not the case in Primark. This one was €4,50, so I had to get it!

A Black, Wool Hat

I contemplated a lot about this hat. I wanted this style of hat for a while and everyone is wearing it at the moment. I popped into H&M and my eye fell on it immediately.  It was the last one and it was €14,99. Bargain!

Black, Polkadot Espadrilles

Espadrille shoes, like these, are my fave! They are so comfortable and go with everything. I bought a Zara pair last year, but they are starting to fall apart. Lucky me, because I found these ones in the Zara sale for €22,99. I love them so much. They are really well fitted and the mesh, polkadot pattern is so cute!

Do you also have a shopping craving?

Food | Homemade Vegan Cheesecake

Cheesecake is one of my favourite treats. If I would go to America, The Cheesecake Factory would be the first stop on my journey. That is how much I want to taste there cheesecakes! We all know cheesecake is not the healthiest thing in the world, so I wanted to try a vegan cheesecake for ages! Recently I bought the book Powerfood from Rens Kroes. This book has all the healthy recipes you need, including yummy smoothies, quinoa sushi, raw Oreo's en raw cheesecake. 

I was home alone and felt the urge to make this. I wanted to know what it tastes like, so there I went on my cooking journey. It is a bit of Rens and a bit of me, because I think recipes are made to be broken. I hope you enjoy this healthy, guilt-free treat!

To make two, small, vegan cheesecakes you will need:

Base

1 handful of cashew nuts

2 dates

2 apricots

A sprinkle of cranberries

A tablespoon of hempseeds

A tablespoon of flaxseeds

(In the recipe its dates and almonds, but I only could find two dates at home, so that is why I mixed the apricots and cranberries in there).

Creamy Mixture

1 handful of cashew nuts

Water

1,5 tablespoon of coconut oil

1 tablespoon of agave syrup

A pinch of sea salt

A teaspoon of vanilla essence

Topping

I picked some sugar-free strawberry jam, but you can pick everything you like!

Let’s get started!

Step 1: Let the cashews, for the creamy mixture, soak for at least one hour in a bowl with water.

Step 2: Put the other cashews, dates, apricots, cranberries, hempseeds and flaxseeds in a small blender and stir it all up until everything is cut into tiny pieces.

Step 3: Pick two small glasses, bowls, cups, whatever you like and distribute the mixture equally in the cups you chose. 

Step 4: Now it’s time to press the mixture into the cup. When you’re done just put it in the freezer and wait for the soaked cashews to be done. Or if you are smart and have done that in advance you can start on the creamy mixture!

Step 5: Scoop the soaked cashews out of the water and put them in a small mixer (I washed the one I used earlier). It doesn't matter if a bit of water comes with it. Add the coconut oil, agave syrup, sea salt and vanilla essence in the mixer and blend it all together until it’s thick and creamy.

Step 6: Put the creamy mixture on top of the base you made earlier and make sure that everything is nice distributed.

Step 7: But them in the freezer for at least 45 minutes. If you have already had them in the freezer before they should be done in 20 minutes.

Step 8: Get your treats out of the freezer and let them get on room temperature for about 5-10 minutes or if you are like me immediately dig in. Not before you put a nice layer of strawberry goodness on there and your homemade, vegan cheesecake is all done!

It doesn't taste like real cheesecake, but I do see myself eating this as a small treat. I really like the taste and the fact that it is super healthy! Definitely one of my favourite, sweet treats!