FRIDAY SUPERSTAR: Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick

I've been dreaming about owning one of these lipsticks ever since I first saw them online. I didn't know anything about the formula, but I was simply enchanted by the bullet.

FRIDAY SUPERSTAR: Kat Von D Shade & Light Contour Palette

I've been promising to do a review of this palette for ages, since it's my go-to contour palette which I use on a daily basis. You can also tell from the photos below it's being well loved. So I decided that I'll do a quick review with swatches on a Friday, since this palette is absolutely a favorite of mine. 

The palette is unfortunately hard to come by if you're from Europe. It's sold at Sephora for 46 $ which is a reasonable price IMO considering the amount of product you're getting (it's about 2,3g of lighter shades and twice as much for the darker ones). 

My monthly make-up basket - July 2016

Originally, I was planning on doing two make-up baskets per month, but let’s face it, even I don’t have that much make-up to constantly swap items, so I am afraid that it would become rather boring. Instead, I’ll be doing this once a month and doing some additional reviews on the Monday I now have free to post whatever I like :)

So here are some of the products that I’ll be using and hopefully loving for the next few weeks.

Starting with the face, I’ll still be using the L’Oreal Infallible primer, but I actually bought the foundation to go along with it – the L’Oreal Infallible 24h-matte (in shade Sand). I hear that the combination works well together so I’m excited to give it a go.  The shade of foundation is perhaps a tad too dark at the moment, but as I’m typing this from my seaside vacation, I’m sure that will probably change in a couple of days or so.

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.

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.

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!