Birthday Gifts + Haul 2015

As some of you might know, I share my birthday with our lovely Slovenia, which is awesome because I get a day off each year to properly celebrate – and so do you! I almost didn’t make it through the pre-birthday party this year though – we were having dinner at Ljubljana Castle on the 24^th of June and in the middle of the dinner, without any warning, cannons went off right underneath our feet! Of course, it was just a part of the official celebrations, but still – a warning to all that might attempt something similar in the years to come :)

Anyway, what’s lovely about being a beauty blogger is that you get to ask for all kinds of make-up products as presents and nobody finds that strange. So here are the gifts and some things I picked up for myself with gift cards I received. 

I won’t go much into detail since I want to write a separate review on most of these products. Starting in a clockwork order, we have two Sigma E40 tapered blending brushes. I already have one and it’s so amazing it’s always dirty, so a couple more were necessary. 

Makeup Revolution Ultra Sculpt & Contour Kit

If you follow me on Instagram (@low_maintenance_beauty), you probably noticed that I received a few packages from Licila.si and Makeuprevolution.si through the month of May. Well, one of the packages got me all excited and today, I'd like to do a quick review of the product. 

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past two years, you know that it's not all about the bass (no treble, lalala), but rather, it's all about contouring. When looking at photos, I feel like I could cut bread with some of the cheebones of various models and actresses. And with this new trend came a myraid of new products, intended specifically for the purpose, creating  a whole new category of beauty product – the contour kits. 

Anyway, I was sent the Makeup Revolution Ultra Sculpt & Contour Kit in light-medium. 

The palette brings three different products – a matte bronzer, a highlighter and a shimmer blush.

The packaging itself is nothing special, but that can be expected for the price range (with the exception of the MUR Iconic Pro lipsticks I wrote about here – how about that for spectacular packaging). It's a plastic palette with a mirror. I like that it closes up really well – I wouldn't be worried to travel with it. 

Makeup Revolution ICONIC PRO lipsticks

It will probably come as no surprise to most of you that I am quite partial to Licila.si when it comes to make-up shopping. And they are often lovely and spoil me with a thoughtful gifts when they receive new products. One of such packages arrived yesterday and inside was one of the new Makeup Revolution Iconic Pro lipstick in the shade Game of mystery matte. 

I took it out, applied it and a couple of hours later I was in love. So normally, I went and ordered a few more, because why not, right? You can now buy Makeup Revolution products on a brand new site  and until end of June 2015, you can use the code BLOG17 to get 17 % off your purchase (on the products not yet on sale). 

I now own not one, not two, not three, but four of the Iconic Pro lipsticks. In all, there are twenty different lipsticks in the collection.  

They come in either a satin or matte finish, so you could basically choose the same shade in two finishes, but this is not true for all of the shades in the range.

Sephora (and MAC) haul

I know that some of you take offense when I’m writing about things that are not easy/next to impossible to get in Slovenia (or, to be honest, in Europe), but still I got some positive feedback from others, saying that you like such posts, since they make you either have them shipped/buy them on your travels/order them from friends that are traveling etc. 

Well, I do realize that writing about products that you cannot just go out and buy isn’t exactly productive, but just keep in mind this one thing – if you dream it, you dreams can come true. And please, don’t only apply it to make-up shopping :)

Anyway, my Sephora basket wasn’t as extensive as it was about a year ago, but my wishes have gotten much, much more specific. 

First of all, I was on the hunt for a full coverage foundation. This Kat Von D Lock it tattoo foundation does seem dark for me in the bottle (shade 54 – medium), but for some reason it’s the perfect shade – if I were to buy it over the internet, I would go much lighter and completely miss the target. 

One year of blogging recap + birthday giveaway

My dear low/high maintenance beauties. About a year ago, I wrote my first post and setup a Blogger account. I didn't think much about how it's going to go, what I was going to write about or if anyone will ever read my ramblings. And now, a year later, I'm looking back at everything and feel very thankful for each experience and every single one of you who read my posts, like, click, share and comment. You make my day – every day. 

I've also had some bad experience, but most of it was related to specific people behind specific brands. I still stand by the fact that I will not write a BS positive review, no matter what you offer me – be it products, money or something else. You can send me a product, yes, but I offer no guarantee that I'll be writing anything about. Some people were not happy about my position on this – I say it's their loss. It does make me sad, however, when I see some other bloggers posting over-excited reviews for such brands. But to each his own. I believe that with greater power comes greater responsibility – I wouldn't want people I trust deceiving me, so it's not my intention to be deceiving to you. 

What surprises me the most is how far even such a small blog like mine can reach and how many doors it can open. Not every single discussion came to a positive conclusion, but still, they were priceless in my eyes because of the experience they offered. 

I said that I'll evaluate what I'm doing after a year and do a self-review of a sort. I think that I've improved on the writing and the precision of thought, the photos have gotten somewhat better (let's all take a moment to admire the first ever photo I published - below) and I'm also a bit more consistent at posting new contents. 

LOL at the composition, background, focus.

I do however need to work more on providing better swatches and really do some make-up looks as well. Also, I need to concentrate a bit less on make-up and start doing more posts in other areas as well. Possibly start translating everything into Slovenian as well? What do you think? Is there anything I need to put on my list of things to improve?

Anyway, enough ranting, let's get to the fun stuff, right? Again, I have to prizes for two lucky ladies (or gents). Each includes some must-haves, some of my favorites and some things that will help you be on point with the spring-summer trends that I talked about in my previous post. 

1. ICONIC PACKAGE

• Makeup Revolution Redemption Iconic 1 palette
• Makeup Revolution Redemption Iconic 2 palette
• Makeup Revolution Redemption Iconic 3 palette
• (yes, all three of them)
• Makeup Revolution Focus & Fix eye primer
• Essence Longlasting eye pencil (Tu-Tu Touquoise)
• Essence XXXL Nude lipgloss (Just nude)

2. FLAWLESS PACKAGE

• Makeup Revolution Flawless Matte palette
• BH Cosmetics 12-brush set (Berry)
• Makeup Revolution Focus & Fix eye primer
•  Essence Longlasting eye pencil (Tu-Tu Touquoise)
•  Essence XXXL Nude lipgloss (Taste the Sweets)

You can enter through several possibilities, all listed below in the Rafflecopter. I wish you good luck in the giveaway - thank you for celebrating with me!

a Rafflecopter giveaway