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!

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!

My Fall and Winter Skincare Routine

I'll be the last one to claim that I always stick to my routine, go through all the paces, take 20 minutes to get my face ready in the morning or clean at night, never sleep with my make-up on. Let's face it, we're all working people in some way or another. I don't have half an hour a day to go through each of these steps. But when I do take the time and put in the effort, this is my normal autumn & winter skincare routine that is quite different from what I do to my face in the summer. 

 

In the morning, there are four steps I try to take before putting any make-up on. First, some warm water never hurt anyone and apparently, it opens up your pores and prepares them for everything that is to follow. When dry, I follow up with the moisturizing part which is my absolute favorite thing to do in the morning – it really helps me feel fresh and ready to start the day. I've recently switched up my daily moisturizer to Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel. 

So far, so good. It's a little dry for my taste so I will probably try the lotion from the same line next time, but it does not break me out which is a step in the right direction. Normally, I've had luck with Clinique skincare products in general, so it's a positive trend. 

I try to take off my make-up when I get home from work, but it still  normally has a good 12 hours to jump around my face clogging my pores, melting away and doing all kind of other silly business. I don't tend to do the entire skincare routine at that moment though – I just use some cleanser (right now, I'm using the Nivea Pure&Natural Cleaning Milk) and a facial wipes. I've written a long post about many of these already and I'm currently using the Yes to Blueberries wipes which I again adore :)

In the evening, the real pampering (or torture, depends on the type of person you are) starts. About 3 times a week, I try to exfoliate with my Olay Pro-X and the Neutrogena purifying pore scrub. I've also gotten my hands on some Paula's Choice Skin Perfecting 1 % BHA gel and I'm excited to try this stuff out to see how my skin will like it. When I exfoliate, I always end the process by putting the Nuxe (Huile Prodigieuse) oil on my face and let it really nurture the skin properly for about 15-20 minutes before doing anything else. I feel that exfoliation is quite stressful on the skin and it deserves a little pampering afterwards. 

But as a part of a regular, everyday routine, I first take off my make-up as described above. Then I let my skin rest for a couple of minutes before applying Mixa Soothing Toner. It's good, but it is not my favorite. That would have to be the Nuxe  Eau Demaquilliante Micelaire (Micelar cleaning water). I've only had a deluxe sample of that and I am quite ready to invest in the whole bottle. 

Then I apply the eye cream. I am currently using the Eveline Argan Oil Anti-wrinkle rejuvenating eye-cream, but I doubt that I will finish the whole serum – it does not seem to do anything to have any benefit whatsoever on my skin and I am a bit disappointed in it. Last but not least, I apply my nightly moisturizer. I switched this one as well, so I am using the L'Oreal Triple Active night moisturizer (I dropped it one day hence no lid because it broke). It's very, very nice – quite oily, but I like that in the night cream since it has plently of time to really do its thing to my face throughout the night. I also apply down my neck as well. 

And that is IT. It's really simple in my opinion, although my husband would probably not agree.  

What is the one thing that cannot be missing from your skincare routine when you want to pamper yourself? Comment below!

Until next time, stay beautiful, stay awesome!

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!