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Monday, May 30, 2016

Make-up basket #1

As I've already mentioned in my blog post schedule, I'm planning on doing a bi-weekly make-up basket. I've decided on doing so because I think that I will switch between products a lot more this way and perhaps even rediscover some forgotten gems in my stash (but that naturally doesn't mean I won't use anything else besides the mentioned items). Besides that, it will also benefit my make-up collection since I've quickly learned that each item must be cleaned before photos are taken :) 

That being said, here are the products I'll be using more for the next two weeks. 

I pulled out one of my newer purchases, the L'Oreal Infallible Mattifying base to see if it will reduce some of the shine. For foundation, I'm going to go with Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation (30 - Beige). I know I've used this a couple of times in the Autumn when I got it but I think the formula was too thin so I stopped using it. 

I'll use the Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in shade 15 which is nice for my under eye area. For setting everything, I'm going with the Maybelline Fit me Compact Powder (250 - Sun Beige) to see how it will hold my foundation in place. 

As far as contouring goes, I've had the Collection Countour Kit Highlight&Sculpt for more than six months and maybe used it once. I think the highlight is beautiful and I hope the contour shade will be appropriate for my already slightly bronzed face. On days I don't want to bother with contour, I'll use the Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Powder.

I'm also going to be using my new Golden Rose Silky Touch Blush-On in shade 207. I think this nice peachy color is absolutely perfect for spring and I can't wait to start using this beautiful blush.

I'm going to try and use up the Too Faced Shadow Insurance Primer since it's a sample and I've had it since forever. I'm excited to start properly using the Catrice Chocolate Nudes which have been on some travels with me but don't get enough love at home. 

I'll stick to my new-found awesome eyebrow duo from Freedom Makeup (Soft brown) as it's perfect to match my eyebrows to my hair at the moment. Giordani Gold eye pencil is a great soft pencil for smudged eyeliner and waterline so I'm trading my Lord&Berry liner for this one. It's also almost time to say goodbye to my Lancome Hypnose Volume-a-porter mascara so these two weeks will be our last hooray. 

I'm keeping the lip situation simple with two of the Catrice Shine Appeal Fluid Lipsticks - the lighter one in What a Melon and the darker one in Marry Berry. I'll probably need a lip liner to go with them as they are quite runny but I'll think about that another day.

That are most of the products that I'll be using for the next two weeks. If you see anything in the mix that sparks your interest and would like to see a proper review on, let me know!

Until next time, stay beautiful!

Sunday, May 22, 2016

SUNDAY SPECIAL: Best of 2015: Make-up



Yes, I know, I know – doing 2015 favorites in May isn’t exactly current. But nevertheless, I wanted to share the make-up products that impressed me the most in 2015 with you. It was difficult to choose the best of the best, but here are the ones that I enjoyed the most. I suggest you get a cup of coffee and a snack, since it’s going to be a looooong post!


Let’s start with the face. As I mentioned in my Friday Superstarts post about Melvita, my skin has really been acting up during pregnancy, so I used a very heavy-duty foundation – the Estee Lauder Double wear in 1W2 (Sand). It’s not the easiest foundation to apply since it’s very heavy and you definitely feel it on the skin, but it conceals imperfections perfectly. It’s also not the cheapest foundation on the market but a definite must from now on in my make-up drawer. 

The problem with using such heavy foundation is that the fact ends up looking flat, two-dimensional. For that reason, I enjoyed using the Gerard Cosmetics BB Illumination Facial Cream and mixed a couple of drops in with the foundation on days when I wanted to give my face a bit more life. The cream comes in a tan shade so it doesn’t change your foundation color if used sparingly. At about 22 € per 50 ml, it’s not exactly a cheap product, but I think it will last me at least two years, so I think it’s a good purchase.

In 2015 I’ve been loving two concealers. The first is the Coleur Caramel concealer (n. 12) which is a creamy concealer in a salmon shade – I already wrote about it here. I use it to cover up my dark circles and it does the job beautifully. I bought mine in Muller. The second concealer I used all the time is the Maybelline Fit me concealer in n.10 – it is a good match for my skin so I use it to cover any imperfections. Since it’s a liquid concealer, I use a Beauty Blender to really blend it in and the results are more than satisfying. I am not sure if these are available in Slovenia yet since I bought mine in Austria, but you can order them from various online stores.

I am a big believer in setting the foundation and the product I used the most in 2015 and the months leading to this post is the Avon Ideal Flawless pressed powder in light medium.  It works really well with any brush I use and doesn’t produce a lot of kick-out which I’ve come to associate with many other pressed powders. I am also a big fan of the sturdy packaging with a large mirror. 

I won’t do a lot of talking about Mary-Lou Manizer from the Balm since it’s one of the most loved highlighters among beauty bloggers so you’ve surely read about it before. Since shooting these photos I’ve already hit pan on it and that’s saying something considering I own about 10 other highlighters as well. If you don’t own one, go ahead and buy it – you can get it at Licila.si for about 22 € and I guarantee you won’t regret it. 

The Kat Von D Shade & Light contour palette is my second attempt to buy a good contouring palette after I hated the Anastasia BH palette – you can read about that here. This palette gives me everything I need and more to give some real dimension for my face. I use the middle shade on the top, named lyric, for highlighting and the bottom left shade, named sombre, for contour, so those are the shades I use the most, but I also use others for different purposes – I sometimes do a light dusting of upper left shade (lucid) over my entire eye to cover the redness and veins on days I’m not wearing any eyeshadow, and I use the bottom far right shade (subconsciously) for my eyebrows when my hair color is a bit darker. I absolutely love this palette and I can’t wait to get my hands on some more Kat Von D products since I think they are absolutely gorgeous. If you want to see a more detailed review of this palette, let me know in the comments below!

Last but not least in the face category is the Urban Decay De-slick Makeup setting spray. This is my second bottle and I will probably keep repurchasing it although it’s again not the cheapest setting spray out there. I tend to use it more in the summer to prevent my face from shining like a lightbulb and to make sure my make-up doesn’t sweat off. 

By now you must be thinking – it’s easy to get a good face going on if you spend 20+ Euro on each product. True, I think that I spend the most money to make my skin look good, but I find that the most important part of my make-up routine so I really don’t think about money much when buying new items – I am much more stingy in other areas as make-up is concerned.


 Continuing with the eyes, I’ve been loving two mascaras, one high-end and one drugstore priced. The Lancome Hypnose Volume-a-porter mascara gives my lashes a nice length and the bristles are really designed in a way that they coat each individual lash. But if you’re looking for something that’s also kind to your wallet, I’d suggest you try the Giordani Gold Incredible Length Mascara! This mascara gave me both volume and length. The wand is the perfect size for my eye and the bristles are long and close together. The formula is a bit thicker as in the Lancome mascara so it did clump up faster, but I got a solid three months out of it which is more than enough in my opinion. 

I was curious to try  the Avon Eyeshadow Primer – Light Beige. I can now say that it easily compares to the more expensive eye primers I’ve used before and really does the job well. I have quite oily eyelids so I was worried about the thicker texture, but it doesn’t crease at all. I also sometimes use it to cancel out the veins in my eyes even when not using any eyeshadow and it works great. The amount of the product in the jar is impressive and I can barely tell I’ve been using mine after a solid two months so I think that it’s definitely worth a try if you’re on a hunt for a good primer!

As for eyeliners, I didn’t really have a favorite in the liquid category last year, but I’ve again been loving the Lord&Berry pencil eyeliner which I talked so much about already. I use it mainly in my waterline and it doesn’t transfer at all. I now have four of these so I expect them to last me quite some time. 

Last but not least I have been loving the Golden Rose eyebrow powder. They come in quite a few shades so I was able to match my eyebrows to my hair quite well. What I love about this powder is the fact that it works beautifully with all of my brushes so I don’t have to give a second thought to which one I’m going to grab. And as all Golden Rose products, it’s really inexpensive for the amount of product you’re getting!


Last but not least, let’s talk about lipsticks. 2015 wasn’t that good to me in that department (but that changed in 2016 dramatically with the matte and neutral trend) so I only have four lip products to share with you. 

The first one is again by Golden Rose and it’s their Golden Rose Matte Lipstick Crayon in color 04 which is a nice plumy red color. I’ve worn this a ton during autumn. I usually just dab a couple of spots on my lips and then smudge them out with my fingers since the color is quite deep and I often didn’t have the time to apply it properly, let alone reapply it when on the go. I’ve already purchased this crayon in another color since it’s an absolute must in any collection as far as I’m concerned.

I’ve been loving the liquid lipsticks that so many brands came out with in the past year. My absolute favorite were the Essence liquid lipsticks in 04 Show Off (above) and 06 – Make a statement (below). The price of these is a bargain and I love the way they easily apply with the doe foot wand. Although they are in liquid form, these liquid lipsticks are more than reasonably pigmented and you can apply them in no time at all!

Finally, I also enjoyed the Essence lipstick from the Merry Berry collection in shade Pink & Perfect. This lipstick is a nice, deep purple red with a nice shine to it. It’s a bit different from the shades and a bit too dark to wear to work, but I really enjoyed wearing it when out and about and got quite a few compliments on it. As all Essence products, this purchase didn’t really affect my bank balance at all.

And this is it for my make-up favorites in 2015. Let me know some of yours in the comments below so I can check them out!

Until next time, stay beautiful!

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Pink October: Pretty in Pink

Most of you probably know that October stands for the breast cancer awareness month. Along with fellow Slovenian bloggers, we decided to join together and dedicate one of our posts to this issue. 

As with many other illnesses, prevention and early detection is the key factor. Remember to do regular check-ups and remind your loved ones to do that as well. If you need additional information, talk to your doctor or visit the website of Europa Donna which is a great foundation that fights breast cancer. 

For my post, I went through my products and selected those that I really love in the color pink, which is the official color of breast cancer awareness month. 


I love the Sleek blush trio in Pink lemonade which includes two powders (left and right) and one cream blush (middle). For highlighter, I can't go wrong with The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer. Both of these are available from Licila.si


The powder blushes are quite intense, so I usually tap away the excess from my brush before applying it. I particularly love the far right shade called Icing sugar for the autumn and winter months – it's a nice coral shade which I think would look great on any skin tone. 

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

The best and worst of my primers



I have talked quite a lot about primers in my previous posts, since I really do believe that they make a difference to a) what your skin will look like with foundation and b) how good it’s going to wear throughout the day. I have included some primers in my recent favorites as well, so go check those out if you are interested. 
 
So currently, I have quite a few primers that I use on a regular basis. I thought that the best way to go about this is from my least favorite to my personal favorite primer, something that we already did with mascaras (click here and here to view those posts).


6th place:  MONU First Defence Illuminating primer with SPF 15

I got the deluxe sample of this primer in the Look Fantastic Beauty Box and I’m almost out of it. It says it’s suitable for all skin types, but I feel that he is somewhat responsible for the breakouts I’ve been having recently. It’s also quite drying, which could be expected for a mattifying primer, but I feel that it sticks to the dry patches on my face a bit more and thus makes them even more apparent. I’ll give it a point for the SPF, but that’s about it. The full size costs a whooping 40 € of Feelunique website. 

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Concealers – a quick review!



When I asked you guys what you’d like to see me write about, so many of you mentioned concealers that I just can’t stay away from the topic. Mind you, I’m not a huge concealer junkie – I think it’s one of those things that you need to find whatever works for you and just stick to it. And let me just say that all of the reviews here will be mainly positive, since I’ve had quite a bit of luck on the concealing side. So let’s jump right in!


Makeup revolution concealer (Fair)


I picked up this shade since I wanted something that would also act like a subtle highlight underneath my eyes (you know - the triangle trick). It has a bit of pink undertone but is still lighter than my natural face shape. I bought this on Licila.si for a bargain price of about 2 €. It also comes in the natural shade, and in the last few months, they also added a new line of Makeup revolution concealers called Focus & Fix, which I need to try as well. 


Anyway, I just use this underneath my eyes since I don’t really have any breakouts to take care of very often and the shade would be much too light for that. Consequently, I cannot judge the staying power on the face, but it doesn’t budge at all underneath the eyes. The only thing that slightly bothers me is that it’s quite a dry formula and if you don’t set it with a good powder, it will probably crease on you, more so if you have some fine lines under your eyes. 


Still, for the price, it’s a great concealer and I would repurchase it. The packaging is nice and sturdy (even though all of the writing came of quite quickly) and looks pretty nice as well. Applicator: doe shaped.

Sunday, February 15, 2015

First Empties of 2015!

This post is way overdue, especially due to the fact that my spare closet was starting too look like some hoarder's wet dream. A bunch of empties and no time to share my thoughts on them with you, my beauties. But this changes - right now!

Let's start with some haircare.


I used up the Schwarzkopf Gliss Hair Repair for dry and damaged hair - and for once, the shampoo and the conditioner both lasted the exact same amount of washes. I don't know why,  but usually I use up the conditioner way faster. Anyway, this came recommended by a friend and I loved the product. It really did make a difference in my hair, leaving it a bit shinier and I've also noticed less frizz and fewer flyaways. I also use the deep conditioning mask, but I've got a couple more uses in that one. 

As for this Essence Road Trip dry shampoo, I just don't know. It was a random purchase and I used it just as randomly. It didn't really convince me in making my hair any less greasy, so I mainly used it if my hair was clean but had a smell (e.g. if I was baking/cooking something with a heavy smell). So I wouldn't repurchase this. 


I have rambled about the Axe Anarchy deodorant so much in my empties, I'm not going to repeat myself. I was however slightly surprised by the Nivea Angel Star Invisible deodorant. I think they changed the formula on that one - when I used it in the past it really did the job, but for some reason this one just did not perform. It's not really empty, but I am throwing it away since it's useless. 

Alas, I also used up an entire bottle of Chloe by Chloe perfume in about 6 months. I purchased a double size of this a couple of months back so I hope it lasts me at least until 2016. I love this smell, but I would not recommend a certain perfume to anyone, since it's completely a personal preference. I will say, however, that it lasts beautifully on my skin - I get compliments on it even after 12 hours. 


For nails, I again used up an entire bottle of Afrodita Chamomile Sensitive polish remover - it's my go to remover whenever other products I'm trying out fail me. This Aveo (a Muller brand) was again just OK - it did the job on the nails, but I had to use up a lot if it every time around. I think the bottle lasted me only about 5-6 manicures. The Alessandro nail polish is not empty, but it dried up on me and it's impossible to use it anymore, so I'm throwing it away. 


For skincare, I did a bit of experimentation with the Yes To cleaning wipes, trying out the Blueberry (age refresh) and the Cucumber (soothing) ones for the first time. We all know I'm a fan of the Grapefruit (correct and repair) ones and I must say that both other versions were just as good. I will however stick to the Grapefruit ones because of the lovely refreshing smell. I would only recommend the Cucumber tissues if you don't mind a strong cucumber smell - it was a bit disturbing for me at times. I get these on Asos for about 5-6 €, they often have promotions where you can get them even cheaper. I'm thinking of investing in a cleansing gel from this same brand, since I'm obviously a fan.


I used up two cleansers in the past months. The Decleor Eye Make-up remover with essential oils is one of my absolute favorite products of all time. It can remove almost any mascara under the face of the planet and although it's quite expensive, I think it's worth the money. The other empty from this category is the Nivea Pure&Natural cleansing milk. It doesn't have quite the power of Decleor, but for the price, I still find it a good product. Plus, I'm a sucker for the classic Nivea smell in the face products - it just makes me feel clean, if you know what I mean. 

I also got the final spritz out of the Urban Decay De-slick setting spray. It is amazing, that's all I can say about it. I've talked about it quite a lot before and considering my most recent haul, you'll be seeing this baby in my favorites quite a lot, probably. 

Last up is a mini sample of Paula's choice. I don't know why I included it here, since I'm going to do a Sample Empties soon. So, you know, just ignore it. 


I've replaced my Real Techniques old nasty blending sponge with a brand new one (which i already mentioned in the most recent haul). I also went through another of the Maybelline Baby Skin Instant pore erasers which I've talked and talked about before. I just have one left and then I'm going to have to live without them until the next USA trip. 

In the foundations, I've gone through two of them. First one is the L'Oreal Mat' Magique which I'm so happy I've finally gotten rid of. It featured in my Worst products of 2015 and I never, ever want to see it again in my bathrom. Read about it here

On the other hand, I've used up two lovely products I will miss very much. First is the Rimmel Match Perfection (201 - Classic Beige) foundation which was my favorite foundation of the past year. I'm definitely going to repurchase this at the first opportunity (meaning, the first Rimmel sale on Look Fantastic or Feelunique). It's an absolutely gorgeous foundation with just the right amount of coverage which does cover enough but doesn't leave my face feeling heavy. I can give similar praise to the Essence Stay All Day 16h Concealer. I've used this underneath my eyes for my ever-dark dark circles. It covered up the darkness beautifully and what I really loved about it is that it sank into the skin and didn't just sit on top, creasing and looking out of place. Will repurchase if I can find it. 


Last up, my beloved mascaras. If I knew how wonderful each and every one of these three mascaras is, I would have never opened them at the same time. I've talked about them before here - I think it's a good post with a decent comparison. Anyway, it's in the trash with these three and on with the hunt with a mascara that comes even close to these three. 

Anyway, that's it for the first empties of this year. I hope you pick up some good tips and learn from my successes and mistakes alike. Until next time, stay beautiful, stay awesome!

Monday, January 5, 2015

Products I regret buying – 2014 recap

It was a bountiful make-up year for me, as I already mentioned in my first recap regarding the best products of 2014. But everyone makes mistakes and I'm no exception to the rule. So without further ado, here are the products that disappointed me the most in 2014. Again, I'm trying to keep this short, but I will include the link to my previous reviews regarding these products, if I already wrote them. 

Let's start with face products. 
 

The L'Oreal Mat Magique foundation I already talked about here. It is supposed to be a really mattifying foundation but it only lasted a couple of hours on my face before it started melting away and my face got oily again. I've tried it since with several different primers and fixing fluids, to no success. 

All-around concealer by Catrice seemed like a good, inexpensive option for the days when I actually take the time to color correct my face before I apply foundation. I chose this particular palette because I thought that it would be a good learning tool, but I find that the product is really difficult to blend (with fingers, beauty blender or with brush) and cakes on my face where I apply it. 

Bahama Mama was a big, big disappointment because I've heard so many bloggers go on and on about how it's a great contouring bronzer. I somehow managed to make it work when I had some tan from summer (read about that here) but now I just look like I've been rolling in the mud every time I attempt to use it. I am afraid that it is not meant for us fair-skinned folk, unless you are going for the Kardashian look on an everyday basis. 

As far as eye shadows go, I made two rather unsuccessful purchases this year, but the one that really left me down was the Maybelline Nudes palette. 


You can find the entire review over here, but if you don't feel like reading it, let me just say that half of the shadows in the palette are so bland and have such low pigmentation that they are useless and the other half are nothing special, really. You can find better palettes at Essence, Barry M or BH Cosmetics for half the price. 

Another fun chapter was my eyebrows and lashes. The biggest flop of the year regarding my high expectation and the high price of the product was undoubtedly the Benefit They're real mascara. This mascara is so wet that it's impossible to apply without getting those spidery lashes and what's even worse – it's absolutely impossible to get off. Apparently, it comes with a special remover for this particular formula but I did not bother buying that so I could spend as long as 5 minutes rubbing the stuff off and still wake up next day with panda eyes. 


I was really disappointed with the e.l.f. primer and sealer because it is so dry that it is impossible to distribute in a normal manner on the eyelid. I have tried the fluid version of the e.l.f. primer and love it, though, so I would definitely recommend it. 

Another e.l.f. product that was not up my alley was the Eyebrow kit in #D36. It comes with a darker cream formulation and a lighter powder but none of these two really worked for my eyebrows and had almost no staying power. The story was quite different with the Rimmel Brow this way (001 – blonde) which was very pigmented (I am sorry, I know the swatch below looks like something pooped on my hand, but oh well, you get the picture) but the spoolie was SO incredibly large that it was impossible to maneuver normally around the eyebrow and not go over the edges about 10 times. I could probably use it with a brush but I just cannot be bothered with the mess. 


Two brushes that I already had a rant about are the e.l.f. professional bronzing brush (which does nothing professionally other than leave the bristles all over the place) and the Essence Smokey eye brush (which also sheds and leaves color). Fortunately, they cost next to nothing so I won't feel bad when I toss them in the trash. 


For nail polishes, I had a hard time choosing the biggest disappointment since there were quite a few this year, but I must say that the ones that probably left me most frustrated were the Make-up Revolution polishes below – you can see the swatches here.


This formula really is nothing to write home about – it's bland and doesn't apply evenly, but what is most frustrating to me is that I need three coats to make it presentable which inevitably means that I can expect chipping in 3,2,1… I will not purchase more polishes from this line although the colors are very beautiful and unique. 

Last but not least are the lip products. Again, I tried to bring it down to the ones that were absolutely unsatisfactory and leave out those which are just… meh. 


I Heart Makeup lip combo named Yesterday's favorite is a beautiful red matte lipstick on one side but it’s so matte that it cannot be worn without a lip gloss. I love the idea of the gloss on the other side (sort of a 2 for 1 deal and very practical indeed), but it contains so much shimmer that it would only be manageable for some sort of photo shoot or something, not for everyday wear. 

I’m not sure what I was thinking when purchasing the Rimmel Apocalips in Nude eclipse, but obviously I didn’t take enough time to really check out the swatches on internet. This color may be nude on someone’s lips, but I could as well use it as a concealer because it’s more skin-toned than anything else. Toss. 


Last up we have the Catrice Ultimate shine in 270 (What’s AP-ricote). The formula itself is nice, very soft and quite long lasting, but the color was just off for me – not pigmented enough to be orange, not light enough to be coral with orange tones – just a very unflattering color in all. 

What were your biggest disappointments of 2014? Let me know below!

Until next time, stay beautiful, stay awesome!