MONDAY MADNESS: NBB (New Bits and Bobs) from May - review

Two weeks ago, I published a post with all the new products I bought or received in May (*click* to view the original post). Now, it’s time for short and quick reviews of the products – if you want a more detailed review for any of the products, let me know in the comments!

The L’Oreal Make-up remover says it’s not greasy, but it definitely is. I don’t mind it as much as I thought I would. It removes my make up great, even the waterproof mascara, so I'll continue using it.

SUNDAY SPECIAL: Knowledge is power (a.k.a. all about SPF)

The topic about sun protection is close to my heart since I inherited a skin with many birthmarks that I always need to keep an eye out for. I also didn’t pay much attention to my skin in my early 20’s and I’m trying to be better about it now.

Before we start looking at different products that can help you with keeping your skin safe, let’s start with some basics. Sunscreen helps prevent the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays to penetrate the skin. UVA and UVB rays (which sunscreens protect from) cause wrinkling and sagging of the skin and are one of the primary culprits for skin cancer. So, in short, it’s not a joke.

Wondering what SPF (sun protection factor) to use? Here’s how to interpret the numbers. First, we are talking about the length of time that the SPF will work for. If it takes your skin 20 minutes to get red, then SPF15 will prolong that times 15, so for almost 5 hours. But I don’t really find this as important, since we should be reapplying sunscreen much more often than that. In fact, it’s recommended that we reapply it every two hours and every time we do things that can get rid of the sunscreen we put on our body (going swimming, drying with a towel, sweating etc.). Many make-up products do have some SPF in it, but remember that it’s really not enough to keep your face safe!

MONDAY MADNESS: NBB (New Bits and Bobs) for May 2016

 I’ve been shopping online quite a lot in the past few months, since I was basically tied to the couch for the last couple of weeks of my pregnancy and have not left the house for the first month much. 

Basically what I’m trying to say is that the products you see above were not all bought in May, but I’ll try to keep up from now on with my monthly shopping report. I also completely forgot about my Lancome Juicy Shaker since it’s been in my purse ever since I’ve gotten it, but I think I’ll be writing a separate post about it very soon. I should also mention a present from Licila.si – the Freedom Brush Bath that I’ve already reviewed in a post you can read here.

Make-up remover wipes

Being low maintenance and all (yeah, right, wait ‘till you see the most recent haul, even I was a bit ashamed of myself), I tend to use the simplest method of all to get rid of the main part of my make-up every evening. And since I feel an obligation to you lovely beauties to try everything once, I have tested out no less than five different brands or types in the last few months. 

When using a make-up wipe, I need it to be effective, meaning it actually does remove some of my make-up and doesn’t just move it around my face. Secondly, I want it to be soft on my skin. I am not a fan of rougher wipes – I swear that I can literally hear some scraping at my skin. Thirdly, I want them to smell nice, and when I say nice, I don’t mean some nasty fake smell. I want them to smell clean, if that makes any sense. Next up, I want them to have enough moisture in them so I can use them all over my face. And last but not least, I want the packaging to be designed in a way that it can be closed well so that the wipes don’t dry out in the first couple of days. 

Low maintenance maybe, but my standards regarding make-up wipes are quite high ;)

Anyway, I will just go over these five in the picture below briefly, while trying to rank them from worst to best. Your thoughts, comments and opinions are as always highly appreciated.

 4^th runner up: Müller Cadeavera Vital (35+ years)

Nope, nope, nope. These wipes were so rough against my skin that I ended cleaning up the fallout around my sink with them after I’m done applying my make-up. They didn’t have an unpleasant smell, but they were also less than effective in doing some serious damage to my make-up. Will not, would not, am not going to repurchase. 
 

3^rd runner up: Essence My skin wipes.

These were I believe the least expensive out of all of them. They smelled fantastic and were quite soft, but at the same time they were so thin that I actually ripped some of them while scrubbing off the make-up. I was not a fan of packaging either – it looked very nice but it didn’t seal well so the last 5 wipes were so dry they were practically unusable. Will probably not repurchase, unless it was for travel etc. and I was planning on leaving whatever is left behind. 
 

2^nd runner up: Garnier Essentials for sensitive skin

These wipes don’t have any alcohol and any perfumes in them and consequently do smell very clean. I liked the consistency and also the packaging – it held up pretty well for almost a month and I didn’t end up wasting any product. They were quite cheap I believe, around 3,5 € in Müller. 
 

1^st runner up: Garnier Fresh Essentials

Mmmmm.. I would eat these if I could. They smell so fruity and delicious, they are soft, gentle and wet enough that one suffices for the general scrub. They are in my opinion also the best at removing make up, which is the general idea, don't you agree?
 

Winner: Yes to grapefruit -  brightenning facial wipes

So why are these the winners? Yes, there was a tiny bit of make-up left on my face after using these (I of course use other products as well, don’t worry), but they feel and smell amazing. When I started using them I was a bit unsure about the “brightening” effect but I can definitely see the change after a couple of days – they seem to very gently exfoliate the skin which leaves my face looking nice and fresh and doesn’t dry out my skin.  I also like the fact that one wipe is absolutely huge – you can easily cover your entire face with it, whereas when wearing a lot of make-up I needed to use more than one from all of the other brands. 
 
And, can we just take a moment to admire this inspirational message on the inside of the very sturdy packaging :)

 

They are unfortunately the only ones that don’t sell in Slovenia by my knowledge. Ordering them is easy-peasy though, you can get them at Feel Unique for about 5€ - the shipping is free over 10 £ which I can assure you it’s easy enough to reach. I will probably not repurchase them in the near future though – I am very happy with the Garnier Fresh Essentials which will probably become my staple wipes from now on. Or at least until I find something new that intrigues me ;)
 

Which make-up wipes do you use? Have you had some really good or really bad experience with any brands? Let me know!
 

Until next time, stay beautiful, stay awesome!

My first ever empties

I will not make any excuses about the lack of posts. Life happens, and sometimes it can also be nice.

But without any further rambling on this subject, here are my first empties. They are in no particular order, but they are all completely and utterly just bits and pieces of my trash I’d like to share with you. 

First up, we have the L’Occitane hydrating body gel. This stuff was a present from a friend two years ago. Yes, two years ago. And with my current philosophy of using up products I actually went for it and tried to use it up. Needless to say, products have expiration dates for a reason. Although the scent and the softness of the product was still there, it was flaking off my skin like you’ve never seen before. So in the trash it goes (and I get to open another one, yay).  Will I repurchase? Probably not, it wasn’t that good compared to some other L’Occitane products I’ve used before, especially all with the almond milk, which I adore. 

Next up, we have 3 packages of make-up tissues – one by Essence, one by Müller’s own CV brand and one by Garnier. I will not go into these too much since I have another post planned about them.

We also have two nail polish removers – I tend to go through these like crazy in the summer months when I’m out and about and my nail polish is chipping like crazy. In the last desperate attempt to be the “low-maintenance beauty” I bought the Aveo remover (again, the Müller brand) in berry scent.  I was not crazy about it, I think my all-time-favorite, Afrodita chamomile (which is another empty) does a much better job.  Will I repurchase? Afrodita yes, Aveo probably not. 

We also have two oldies-goldies – the Avon Daily Shine leave in conditioner, which I already talked about in my Avon haul. This stuff is magic and I will continue to use it until the day they stop producing it. But it’s obviously one of Avon’s staple products since it’s been on the market for years – the packaging has changed some, but the product hasn’t.  The other favorite that I keep and keep repurchasing and always have some in stock just in case is the Axe Anarchy for her. I had quite a hard time finding a deodorant that can keep up with my pace and at the same time doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. 

Last up, I got through my first tube of Maybelline Baby skin instant pore eraser. As some of you may remember, I did not buy one, not two, not three but four of these babies on my USA trip. I will however not be starting a new tube right away since I have two other primers that I want to try first. But that’s a case for another post. 

Have you used any of these products? What are your opinions on them?

Until next time, stay beautiful, stay awesome!