Make-up bag:

Lillian

Lillian is one of the smartest women I know (she shares this spot with my niece, jeez what a brains. She studied political science, worked for the European Parliament in Brussels, and was a public affairs advisor in The Hague. But she recently traded her promising political career for one of the coolest projects in Amsterdam: The A'DAM Tower. In 2016, a place will open in the old Shell Tower by the IJ where it will happen in terms of hospitality and music. From a club and revolving restaurant to swings on the roof. Oh yes, and this smart ass is also a trendy and beautiful chick. That's why I'm so curious about what the beauty secret of the well-groomed Lillian is. “I really do enjoy fussing and a little lipstick here and there, but I have chronic haste. This means that I spend at most five minutes on my face in the morning and when buying new make-up, I go for the easiest and often less expensive.’ This is getting interesting...

What an incredibly modest black bag this is. A stylish specimen, I must give Lillian that. Once I dive in, I find, as I had predicted in my head, only a few products. Again, I doubt myself: should I really put so much on my head? Anyway, we find a ssoft eyeliner and volume mascara, both from Hema. Then the Super Stay Concealer from Maybelline, a little brush, and the Baked Blush from Etos. Hallelujah, I also see the red So Chaos lipstick from M.A.C. The hero of the day! So my first impression is: this woman really needs very little. Damn.

Oh how happy I am with Lillian's eyeliner, damn it. No cotton swab was involved. The mascara is a very nice specimen, it just happens to be dried out. Shame! So my eyes now look like the Sagrada Família: unfinished. For my dark circles, I use the concealer, which covers nicely. I finish this off with the blush that I apply with the only small brush in the bag. It all still looks presentable. I save the climax for last: the red lipstick. To my great dismay, the stick is more dead than alive: there's almost nothing left in it. Ouch. But well, aside from the almost-out products, Lillian proves again that nice make-up doesn't have to be very expensive.

Poor Lil, are you so busy that you have to make do with products that have actually seen better days? I really feel for you. Still, I advise you to quickly hop by the drugstore for a new mascara, because these hard clumps cannot be good for your lashes. And if you have so much haste in the morning, go for two-in-one products, like the GG Cream from L’Oréal: a day cream, foundation, and bronzer in one. Then you're really ready in no time and look like you're ready to conquer the world. But well, you're going to do that anyway.