MONDAY MADNESS: Empty that can!

I haven't emptied my trash can in a long while - too long, I might add, so I was presented with a pile of used products that you now get to view for your own pleasure :) I'll try to write short reviews, but you know how it is with me - short posts are definitely not my forte. 

Starting off with hair products, I am done with the Aussie Repair Miracle shampoo and conditioner for damage control. I found these two OK, but after using them for a long time I noticed they did make my hair a little bit heavier and they got greasier a bit quicker. I will not repurchase. 

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!

Blogvember #13: Half Way There!

Yes, I know that 13 is not exactly 16 as it should have been, but I will say that between working days and nights and spending a couple of days on vacation I think I'm not doing as bad as I was afraid. So technically we're half way through Blogvember and I'd like to recap what I've written about so far. A click on the titles will automatically open a new window with the post for you, if you wish to read something. 

#1: My Aussie Experience

This was my first real dabble into this line and I am quite impressed with it. I wrote a review of the Repair Miracle Shampoo and Conditioner and the Miracle Dry Shampoo.

#2: Something Yummy

Yummy is also a brand I came across for the first time. I reviewed the Yummy Body Butter in Darkest Blood Orange.

#3: Oils are not just for cooking

I love it when I find products from Slovenian brands that I enjoy. In this post, I talk about the Afrodita Jojoba Oil shower gel and Afrodita Argan Oil. 

#4: Secrets of the Trebnik Mansion

I fell in love with Dvorec Trebnik bath salts a year back, but this was my first time trying their DT line: DT Energy Tonic, DT Funky Coconut Creamy Hand Gel and DT Strawberry Lip Balm. 

#5: I Heart Makeup Palette in Black Velvet

I Heart Makeup is a nice brand offering a variety of products at very reasonable price point. This time, I reviewed their sexy, sleek palette named Black Velvet.

#6: This or That - Beauty Edition Tag

If you want to learn about my preferences when it comes to beauty, click on the post above :)

#7: Subrina Vitamins & Strength

Another review of hair care products, this time talking about another Slovenian brand with a short review of the Vitamins & Strength shampoo and conditioner. A short update: I have not touched these since I tried them a couple of times for the review, since I much prefer some other hair care brands I've gotten to know in the past few months.

#8: Adam had Eve, Batman had Robin and I have my Curaprox Superduo

Perhaps a bit out of context on a beauty blog, but I really love this brand and I wanted to give it the praise it deserves. I cannot recommend it enough!

#9: Eucerin Pampering

Eucerin spoiled me twice in October: once at the conference and once with a surprise package. I must say I love the way the brand is evolving and I look forward to seeing what they've got in store for us. I reviewed their new CC cream and lotion for sensitive skin. 

#10: Catrice brings us some chocolate delights

I am a big fan of Catrice brand, especially because of the price:quality ratio which is hard to beat. Although palettes are the one make-up item I really like to splurge on since I find that the quality in drugstore is not always the best, I was pleasantly surprised by the Chocolate nudes palette.

#11: 20 random facts about me tag

I had a blast writing this and laughed quite a lot while I re-read it again whilst on vacation. If you want to learn a thing or two about me, click on the link above :)

#12: What I'm buying myself before Christmas

Things I need in my life before December arrives - courtesy of Lush, Yankee Candle, Smile Concept Store and Carpisa. 

 I am very much looking forward to the second half of November - I've got a couple of events coming up, a few packages to pick up from the post office and two big surprises coming up. Hopefully, you think I'm doing a decent job as well and enjoyed what I've written so far.

Until next time, stay beautiful!

Blogvember #10: Catrice brings us some chocolate delights

It might sound a bit pretentious, but I think that the eyeshadow palettes are the one high-end product I really, really find worth the money. With a few exceptions, I find the drugstore palettes to be of poor quality which also explains the lack of posts about new palettes that some other bloggers rave about in their posts. When I first started to really enjoy make-up, I bought a couple of high-end palettes and learned to appreciate their quality.

With that being said, I do find that you can come upon a hidden jewel once in a while and this little Chocolate Nudes palette by Catrice is most definitely one of those. You can get it in most drugstores for about 5,5 €. 

The packaging alone is where I feel a lot of money was saved on this palette - it's a simple, small plastic black case with a (in my opinion) useless brush. There is also no mirror in sight.

The back of the palette gives you a little tutorial in how to create a glamorous smokey eye, if you would feel the want to wear something like that. It is true that there are only six shades in the palette, but the color combinations that you can play around with are practically endless.

But now, let's talk about the good stuff - the actual shades. They are incredibly soft, almost buttery, which can cause a bit of a fallout if you're being too aggressive, so I would suggest using good quality brushes with it. 

As you are reading this, this palette is vacationing with me as the only palette I took along, since I didn't really feel the need to bring anything else. The palette has a good white base, a highlighter, two nice crease/transition colors (in the middle) and two highly pigmented, absolutely stunning shades at the very right end. I swoon over the dark gold (almost rose-gold) shade that comes second to last in the palette - and I would not hand over this palette to anyone because of this shade alone. 

If you're on the hunt for a natural palette for a bargain price, I would definitely recommend you go out and get yourself one of these. Besides being a perfect traveling companion, this would also be a good palette for younger girls that are just starting to play around with make-up and with Christmas around the corner, there's no time like the present to be that perfect friend/mother/aunt. 

Until next time, stay beautiful!

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!

 

Empties #2

I can't believe how time flies. It's less than 2 weeks until December and less than a week until my first ever Christmas giveaway :) Are you excited? I know I am. 

Anyhow, I've again gathered a whole bunch of empty products which I have more or less firm opinions on already. I think that these particular empties are much more random than the first ones, so I tried to put them into categories to make things easier on all of us. As usual, I will also answer the »would I repurchase« question with each of them, since it's what really counts in my opinion.  

First up, four random products that I really don't know where to put. First are the Dvorec Trebnik bath salt and Biodent mouthwash. 

I picked up this Dvorec Trebnik salt on a whim in Mercator one day. I don't really have the time to take long baths on a regular basis, but I must admit I've taken a lot more since I've bought this product. It gives the water a smell of a luxury spa. The granules are a bit slow to disintegrate so I usually put them in the bath before I start running the water. I've used up the bottle in about 2 months, but then again, I probably use way too much of the product, to be honest. I repurchased it in the Vanilla scent but I actually prefer the orange one. 

The Biodent mouthwash perhaps doesn't exactly fall in the beauty category, but I think that beauty is also hidden in a pretty smile. I think we have tried every mouthwash out there in our household and while I didn't mind most of them, my hubby hated all except for this Biodent brand (which, incidentally, is the cheapest one out there). So it's become a staple in our home and I will continue to repurchase it. 

Next up, we have my even favourite deodorant – Axe Anarchy for her. This is a budget alternative to buying a really luxury product that you match to your perfume – Axe Anarchy costs about 4 € (I've only seen in in Mercator and Müller). It's not an antiperspirant which is great and it really lasts for 12+ hours of furious pace, which is even better (or a must, to be honest). This was my fourth bottle and I will continue to purchase these in bulk because I'm scared they will stop producing it. It was already included in my first empties and I expect it to make another appearance soon :)

 

Nivea makes my all-time favourite cotton pads. I use these for a number of different things and it's the reason why I go through a pack every two weeks, if not more. They don't stick, they are reasonably thick, they soak up whichever product so that it's not running around on my fingers and the floor and – perhaps most important – they don't tear. I hate it when a piece of a cotton pad gets stuck on the lashes or on the fingernail. I think these are about the most expensive cotton pads out there, though, so if anyone knows a good alternative, let me know in the comments below. I do repurchase these all the time.

I've gone through another nail polish remover – the Uma cosmetics Acetone Free remover with the coconut smell. I wasn't too impressed with how it got rid of glitter, but then again, I am yet to find a polish remover that could really tackle that issue well. For the normal nail polishes, it was OK. I also quite liked the smell of it, to be honest. I will probably repurchase this eventually but there are many more out there I want to try before. 

Regarding the nail care, I am all done with the Artdeco intensive nail care stick, which dried up on me. It's good, but the Essence nail sticks are a complete dupe and much less expensive, so I would not repurchase this. I have however already repurchased the Essence nail polish corrector stick which was also included in my October favourites. 

In the hair department, we have a regular size product and two samples. I bought the Cristalli di Argan in DM for about 5 € with the 50% off coupon. I would expect a LOT from a 10 € bottle of shampoo, but, alas, this shampoo was nothing special. I especially did not like that it produced very little foam which meant that I used up even more than I would of the regular drugstore shampoos. I would not repurchase this, or anything else from this particular line. 

The Philip Kingsley products I already talked about in my September favourites and now I've finally gone through the deluxe samples – I had about 4 uses from each of them, which means that a little goes a long way. I will not repeat myself on how much I love this product – I will purchase the full size as a Christmas gift for myself.

Last but not least, there are the face products. I have raved back and forth about the Yes to (grapefruit) facial wipes in my review. I am using the blueberry ones at the moment and they are great as well, but I really think I will repurchase these grapefruit wipes again since I found them more refreshing. 

The Catrice All matt powder (sorry, the packaging is so busted on the top that you cannot see anything at all – I had to read a sticker in the back) was a great product for about 6 months and then it dried up completely. It is really inexpensive so I would probably buy this again for travel and not have to worry if something unpleasant happens to it or I lose it. But I have tried other pressed powders in the last few months and although they are more expensive, the price: quality ratio was in my opinion better as well. 

Last, we have a mini sample of Paula's choice Skin Balancing Invisible Finish Moisture Gel – a big name for a small product. I can hardly believe that this small sample was enough for 4 days – you really only need a tiny amount of product for the entire face. I am really excited to get this daily moisturizer since I have a feeling that we will be good friends. 

Is there an empty in this post that you have other opinion on? I would love to hear from you – comment below!

Until next time, stay beautiful, stay awesome!