Saturday 31 October 2015

October Favourites


This palette has been my life since I got it. I used Catrice's Chocolate palette a couple of times and FM's Jewels and Riches once or twice, but otherwise it's was all about this baby. The quality is so nice. The eyeshadows are so pigmented, soft and they blend beautifully, also the selection of shades is pretty much totally up my alley. It's so much better than the drugstore palettes I've been using recently, so this has become my standard "I need to look good and I don't have time for building up the colour for a million years" palette. It's like Bourjois' Nude-ist, so the thing I grab when we're getting serious with the makeup. I'm kind of eyeing the Nude'Dude palette as well.

These eyeshadow sticks are the best cream eyeshadows around. After the taupe shade 38, I got my hands on  the bronze 06 as well. It's actually very similar to On and on Bronze by Maybelline, only a bit darker and cooler, but I much more prefer the format of the eyeshadow as it's easier to use and apply. These are so smooth, pigmented and they blend well before the set, but after that they don't budge. I use them mostly as a base. 


I never thought I'd put a regular mascara in my favourites, but I've used this one pretty much every single day this month, You may know how I'm always grumpy about regular formulas not holding a curl and that's why I don't use them, but this one actually lifts the lashes a bit, like half way without using a curler. I'm trying to lay off the curler and waterproof mascaras for a while, so my lashes will have a break and this mascara is the best for my needs. It's like a better version of Essence's Princess Lash mascara. It gives the same amount of volume (so tons), it defines the lashes better because the brush is plastic and my lashes do not drop like a stone as at PL. You get huge lashes with this, despite the plastic comb. I gave it to my cousin to try and she hates plastic brushes with passion and she said she really love this and if it were sold in the drugstores, she'd get it in a heartbeat. It is drying quite fast, well at least for what I'm used to and the brush is very similar to MF's False Lash mascaras, which means it is again harsh on my eyes, but not nearly as much as MF's (tears are pouring out of my eyes after using that one). I think I'll try the black, cat eyes version next.


I can scarcely believe myself for including this here, but in all fairness I have been using it every day and it is my eyeliner of choice as of late. We had an incredibly rocky start, I despised this liner and rightly so. It actually made me angry, but from the start it just didn't work at all and I paid a lot for it. Then all of a sudden it started working absolutely perfectly. Weirdest. Thing. Ever. Anyway, it's a liquid eyeliner with a brush applicator that is very precise and allows the smallest strokes and corrections. The formula is super smooth and pigmented, plus it lasts long. I ended up really liking this, but will I forgive its initial misbehaviour only when hell freezes over.


Strawberry Pink and I have our ups and downs. On most days I find it a pretty bland, unflattering colour on me and there are also times when I adore it. It a warm medium natural pink-rose-brown shade - I know complicated, but it's one of those in-between shades. It's several shades darker than my lips as well as a bit warmer, but this would probably be a MLBB shade on medium skin tones. The finish isn't matte, rather it's creamy satin and it a very light, smooth formula to apply. The packaging is so cool to me, I like these kind of futuristic stuff. 

Looove <3 I already dedicated an epic to these lipsticks in my Romantic Rebel posts, but they really stand out among the crowd. The formula is amazing, they are so creamy and comfortable to wear, I'm not exaggerating when I say these are some of the best lipsticks I've tried. So it's not just the stunning very expensive looking rose gold packaging, the product inside is magnificent as well. The shade 01 Lusty Peony is my favourite because it's a dark nude type of shade that's easy to wear and looks very cool. 

This is my ultimate favourite everyday goes-with-every-thing and nice for every occasion lip colour. It's a beautiful muted rose-pink shade that is actually  exactly the natural tone of my lips, however, a shade or two darker, making it look quite natural on my lips, but just giving that definition to my pale face. The staying power and the matte formula are winners as well.


I got myself five MAC lipstick samples when I last ordered on The Body Needs and I found two new absolute favourites - All Fired up and D for Dangerous. Both are retro matte, which is my favourite formula and both are an interesting take on pink-red, which is my favourite type of colour for the lips. All Fired up is a warm fuchsia shade, while D for Danger is a gorgeous warm purple-pink-red. Seriously love these colours so much.


I waited almost a year to wear this. I love the shade, but it's a very autumnal colour and it feels odd to wear it in the summer.  It's a mix of taupe and a pastel lilac shade, so it looks very modern on the nails. If you're perceptive you may have noticed it on my nails in a few posts this month and that's because on was on my nails a majority of the month. Such a gorgeous shade. 


Balea released two new scents of their universal creams, one with an orange & grapefruit scent and this one. I like both scents, but this one is my favourite. It's closest to the Golden Twenties version, except that's warmer and it has a certain tonka bean/patchouli combination that is a bit similar to La Vie est Belle from Lancome. Balea always surprises with the beautiful packaging of these and I again adore this one, especially because it has polka dots.


I forgot to include this one in the pictures where all the product are together, but it's in a cabinet above my computer, where I keep it away from the light and I forgot to grab it. It's my scent of choice for the past couple of weeks and it's just so perfect for this time of year. I'm a sugary fragrance kinda girl, not even a little bit embarrassed about that, but I thrive on smelling like dessert. It's a sweet and cosy fragrance with the opening that features an excellent mix of berries with sugar and an occasional whiff of passion fruit that gives it a slight tropical twist, but the most dominant note throughout is warm vanilla that makes the fragrance feel like a snug jumper. I like it much more than the original Wonderstruck and the rest of Swift's fragrances, which are pretty boring if you ask me.


Have a great day!

Friday 30 October 2015

Unboxing: My Beauty Box


Slovenia got a new beauty box service, called My Beauty Box. I wanted to write the next part about the box in general in English because I don't like writing in Slovene, but that'd be rather pointless considering international readers can't get our box, however, the reviews of products are a different story, so scroll down over my incoherent babbling in Slovene to see what I think of the products. 


V Slovenijo je prišla nova lepotna škatla imenovana My Beauty Box. Kolikor vem, smo blogerke šele poskusni zajčki, trgovino pa bodo odprli kmalu in verjetno tudi takrat oznanili končno ceno, ampak naj bi bila okrog 14,90€ (po informacijah Sare iz Passing Fancy). Stran imajo že postavljeno, ampak za zdaj te tam čaka samo njihov kontakt, da jih lahko vprašaš kaj te zanima. Imajo tudi že Instagram in Facebook

Te škatle presenečenja, ki so dejansko samo kozmetična nadgradnja vrečk, ki smo jih kupovali kot otroci, me pravzaprav niso nikoli pritegnile, saj plačevati toliko za testerje, od katerih ti bo všeč morda eden ali dva ni po mojem okusu, ampak par let nazaj je bila prava norija za temi škatlami in mislim, da jih je večina zelo vesela. Sprejela sem eno škatlo za preizkušnjo, da vsaj enkrat v življenju vidim kako to izgleda in moram priznati, da tako lepe škatle kar nisem pričakovala. Kar se tiče embalaže jim dam 10 točk, saj je škatla tako lepa in kvalitetna, da jo bom zagotovo porabila za druge stvari. Ko škatlo odpreš te pričaka prikupna pentljica in lep papir z motivi ličil - to so mali detajli, ki res naredijo vtis. V škatli je bilo pet izdelkov: 
• Essijev lak v odtenku Merino Cool, 
• tester Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover BB kreme (8g), 
• tester vrečica Macadamia Natural oil Deep Repair maske (15 ml), 
• Tattify začasni tatuji in 
• Tepigs čaj z okusom limone in ingverja. 

Če gledamo cene Essie stane 9,90 € (cena v DM-ih, ampak tega odtenka v novomeškem DM-u ni), 40 ml Ginvera BB kreme stane £24,95 (po mojem hitrem zanič izračunu je v testerju za približno 7 € izdelka), 30 ml tester vrečkica Macadamia Deep Repair maske stane 4,20 € (Beauty Bay), torej je ta vredna 2,10 €, Tattify Tattoja sta 5 $ in Teapigs čaji (2 vrečke) so £1,30. Vsebino zagotovo ne preplačaš, koliko vas je pa navdušila je pa čisto subjektivna zadeva. Sama sem mnenja, da so na dobri poti, sploh laka sem zelo vesela, ampak bi si želela samo kozmetične izdelke, sicer pa kot pravim, vsake oči imajo svojega malarja.


ESSIE Nail Lacquer
Merino Cool

Undoubtedly the most exciting product in the box. I immediately loved the colour as it's a proper autumnal shade and I already included it in my Autumn Picks. Merino Cool it's a mix of purple with grey and it's very likely that they decided to include it to match the box, which was pretty cool of them. The formula is an average one, it needs two coats, sometimes three coats for full opacity and it's fuss free to apply. I know many people find Essie's are just not worth it, but I really like them.


GINVERA Green Tea Nude Cover BB Cream

I remember a British blogger raving about this, about how it's her HG base, but I don't know who it was. The box contains an 8 g sample, which is a decent size, however, the tube is not full - still it lasts quite a few applications. It comes in only one shade, which is just lazy, how could you possibly expect that it will fit everyone? It's quite a dark shade from my perspective. It's darker than my darkest foundation Catrice's Nude Illusion in 010, but at least it's a neutral shade and it didn't end up looking too off on me also because of the coverage. The latter is light, with additional layers it can be built up to light-medium, but you'll definitely need concealer for under the eyes, redness and spots. The texture is very light, it blends beautifully and sets fast, in fact it reminds me of a less greasy version of Missha's Signature BB Cream. It looks very natural on the skin, it just sort of melts into the skin and it has that Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum effect, where it's not obvious you're wearing anything. I really like how it looks on the skin, only it sometimes looks a bit weird on my pores, but I think this has to do with my skin condition and not this BB. It has a strong, but pleasant scent of green tea.


It's nice, albeit expensive, but the texture of it is really lovely. If only they were sensible enough to create more shades, they might even get me as a customer.

TATTIFY Temporary Tattoos


The tattoo craze passed me by completely. In fact, I'm one of those grumpy people that does not like looking like a human doodle, but I digress. There are temporary tattoos, not unlike those we had as kids. I'll be brutally honest here, I'd probably get a better quality tattoo in one of the kids chewing gums than this. My picture doesn't lie, but the result I got bummed me out. It didn't transfer well and I followed the instructions to the letter, plus it was essentially falling apart after an hour. I didn't try the other one, to see if the one I tried was faulty, but might update you if that one is better. The design is pretty, though.


MACADAMIA Deep Repair Masque
 

I've already got a review of this where you can read how unimpressed I was by this. It's incredibly popular and people rave about it, but it just doesn't work on my hair. Having said that, my mom loves it for some reason and I keep buying her pots of this. It's a thick hair treatment that I expected would be super nourishing, but it made my hair very frizzy that's why I didn't like it. But again, I hear it works for a majority of people judging from the rating on MUA. 


TEAPIGS Lazy Days Tea
Lemon and Ginger
They just had to include tea *sighs* Yes, I sound spoiled and I'm aware many people would be very happy to get it in their box, but I'm not one of them. I want beauty products in my box - what a shocking revelation. It's a British brand that uses whole leaf only and their tea bags are one of those pyramid ones. I didn't drink it, I doubt I ever will as I mostly drink only home-grown camomile tea, but it smells like lemon. Sara says these are supposedly really good and she's really into teas, so listen to her not silly little me.


So what do you think about the box? Have a great day!

Wednesday 28 October 2015

Autumn Picks #2


Although it looks like a standard neutral eyeshadow palette, it does have a very autumnal vibe and the real stand out shade here is the deep burgundy called Sexy. I've never really worn red on my eyes, but this one just works without making you look like someone punched you in the face. Nude'Tude is a fantastic palette that really impressed me with its quality and it's just as good as Urban decay ones, except it's quite a lot cheaper. The eyeshadows are very smooth, pigmented and blend so well that it's truly a joy using it. 

I wanted to include a budget neutral palette, granted the Chocolate version one would fit here better, however, the quality of that one just isn't on pair with the rest, so I picked the original Absolute Nude because it has a basic arrange of shades for a nice bronzy-brown smoky eye that will fit nicely into autumn. These are still my favourite budget palettes, the eyeshadows are nicely pigmented, they blend ok and lasts decently on the lids.


 I love the shade of this. It's such a beautiful warm almost coppery bronze brown that is quite dark and fits perfectly into autumn. However, it's not the best quality cream eyeshadow because it creases a lot and it's better use is as a base. The texture is so soft, almost like a cross between a mousse and liquid eyeshadow, plus it's very pigmented, so I only need to touch the surface very lightly or I end up with too much product.

KIKO Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow
06 Golden Brown and 38 Golden Taupe
I adore these. They are seriously the best cream eyeshadows I found. These have an excellent pigmentation, they apply so smoothly with zero tugging on the lids, blend nicely and once they set, they don't budge. Golden Brown is a bronze shade that is very similar to Maybelline's On and on Bronze, but it's a bit darker and cooler and 38 Golden Taupe is a .neutral-warm taupe shade, which is in the same colour family as Satin Taupe, but it has quite a chunky green-gold shimmer in it. 


I rave about this blush all the time. They changed the pattern since I got mine, but I think it's still the same shade. There's something about this natural shade that just compliments my pale neutral skintone so well, it's just a perfect every day, goes-with-everything blush. It's an interesting shade that kind of looks like someone mixed a red-toned bronzer with a warm pink blush.

I always feel that brave dark shades like burgundies need a bit of contouring. This one fits us pale girls well as the contour powder is taupe brown, so it manages to fake a shadow well and it's pigmented enough to show up on my cheeks. The highlighter is subtle though, but in a nice champagne shade for a neutral skintone like mine.


Out all Creme Puffs available here Lavish Mauve is the least shimmery and coolest. It's a coo pink-mauve-violet shade with tiny duo chrome violet-gold shimmer, which I can't see on the cheeks. The texture is soft, decently pigmented and on my cheeks it has more of a satin finish. 

Tresure Rose is the darkest and most pigmented in my selection, it's also the only cream blush. It's a rose-retro red mix that translates into a pink-red flush on the cheeks and the texture reminds me of play-doh, which means it's quite dry to the touch. 


I've heard whispers that this is a dupe for Soar, but I don't have it to compare, it is nonetheless such a beautiful 90's inspired shade. The formula is creamy enough to be used as a replacement for a lipstick and it's cheap as chips. You can't go wrong with this one.

This is my ultimate favourite everyday goes-with-every-thing and appropriate for every occasion lip colour. It's a beautiful muted rose-pink shade that is actually exactly the natural tone of my lips, but a shade or two darker, making it look quite natural on my lips, however, it still stands out. The staying power and the matte formula are winners as well.


01 Lusty Peony is a dark nude type of shade that's easy to wear and would suit many people. But what's even more important is that the formula is just fantastic. It's so creamy and comfortable to wear. I really hope that Kiko decides to make these permanent. The packaging is divine as well, the rose gold tube really is a looker. Love this.

Strawberry Pink is a warm medium natural pink-rose-brown shade that is several shades darker than my lips as well as a bit warmer, but it might be a nice MLBB shade for medium skin tones The finish is creamy-satin and it's the type of lipsticks that at time can feel drying, though at first it's very comfortable to wear. 


Well, of course this is going to be here, it's the best burgundy shade I found with a fantastic matte formula. It's a deep red with no brown undertones and very little purple undertones which I appreciate a lot. I adore this colour on me, it's just so striking. The texture is pleasantly creamy and more waxy or perhaps silicone-y than most lipsticks I tried, but it glides on the lips like a dream and isn't drying at all despite the semi-matte finish.

Aside from Laetitia the other vampy shade. It's much more purple though. It's a deep purple with a bit of burgundy on my lips and it's super pigmented, creamy, applies without dragging - truly the formula is lovely. The lasting power impressed me as well and it wears off into this nice even stain.  


A gorgeous deep berry purple that is a perfect mix between purple and pink-rose. The formula is great as at most Essie, meaning it's really smooth as well as easy to apply evenly and it's fully opaque with two coats. It's on my nails at the moment.

This is without a doubt one of my favourite shades ever in my entire nail polish stash. I love such dark vampy colours especially in colder months. Sole Mate is a beautiful plum-bordeaux shade (supposedly a dupe for Chanel's Rouge Noire) with an amazing quality formula and that fabulous Essie brush. 


A retro rose shade or a dirty medium pink that fits perfectly into autumn. I hear Essence Love my Diary is a pretty close dupe for it and it's a third of the price. Both are gel inspired formulas.

MISSLYN Nail Polish
610 Night Club
A beautiful navy blue with blue frost. It's one of those shades that is almost black, but the reflect shows it's true nature. The formula is a bit on the dry side, so it's not the easiest to apply.


This is that one fantastic transition shade that can easily be worn from autumn though winter into spring because it's such a nice mix of styles. It's a mix of autumn-winter murky taupe and spring pastel lilac shade, so it looks very modern on the nails. Plus this formula has a very shiny finish.

ESSIE Nail Lacquer
Merino Cool 
A mix of violet and grey. It's in the same colour family as Midsummer Mauve, but darker and less grey. The formula is classic requiring two-three coats for full opacity.


The scent of this version is mighty powerful, in fact way too much for a majority of the year, but as soon as temperatures drop, you'll appreciate it more. I'd describe the scent as chocolate-vanilla-musk-woody one in a perfume version, so an oriental type of scent. But otherwise, it's a standard Batiste dry shampoo, which is one of my favourites.

Balea knows what to offer for super dry skin. My legs, elbows and especially soles gets so dry in autumn and winter, so I resort to really heavy-duty stuff. Balea's body butters are thick and intensely moisturising, so it's better to apply them before going to bed. This version smells exactly like Monte (the dessert) so it's an intense chocolate hazelnut scent. If you like foody scents, this is definitely for you.

Combination of central heating and the cold, foggy/rainy weather can make the hair drier - it certainly affects mine. Drugstore conditioners do nothing for me any more and I resort to many leave-in products to fend away dryness. This one is a cream leave-in conditioner or a version of it. It actually has a considerable amount of oil in it, but it doesn't make you hair all limp or greasy and it doesn't leave that silicone felling on the hair. It just helps with the dryness without screwing your hair style and it can be used on both dry and wet hair. It smells like the rest of the Extraordinary line, so a bit like cinnamon. 

YANKEE CANDLE Soft Blanket
It's the season of candles. There aren't many I like and most left me disappointed (though I recently found an amazing one with a peach scent in Eurospin for like a euro), but I adore the scent of this one. Truly it's one of the most amazing scents ever. it's like baby powder and fabric softener, so its soft, warm and cosy.


Have a great day!

Tuesday 27 October 2015

Kiko Midnight Siren LE Matte Muse Lipstick 03 Enthrall Pink


Apart from the stunning Rebel Romantic collection, Kiko currently has another limited edition, a much darker variant called Midnight Siren. Most of the products, though pretty, didn't really manage to catch my attention, but when it comes to matte lip creams, I'm always game. This was another item I planned on getting online and based on pretty rare online swatches, 02 caught my eye. However, once in the shop after swatching all the shades, I picked up a brighter shade 03 and I'm glad I did. I actually liked all the colours, they really made a lovely selection of shades and I would own all the colours if the quality made a great impression on me. 


03 Enthrall Pink is a coral-pink shade. It's not too bright neither muted and I'm a big fan of how it looks on my lips. 
 

The formula is very pigmented and fully opaque, just as almost all such products and it dries to a matte finish after about 15 minutes. It gets more matte than on my pictures, I just didn't have the patience because I again took pictures three separate times to get it right. I have to say that these aren't the best matte liquid lipsticks I've tried, but also not bad, I'd say they are average and there is room for improvement. It's a bit sticky on the lips for the first hour or so, yet it doesn't flake off because of that, which is surprising. Once it sets this doesn't move. It feels fine of my lips, however, I have a feeling that if your lips get dry often, you may find this drying.


The glass bottle resembles that of a nail polish, which is unique and cool. The applicator is interesting as well, but not unique, since Essence had a very similar one in the Stay with Me lip gloss. It's an hourglass shape applicator, but it's a bit small to fit my lips. At those with thinner lips than mine one swipe will probably be enough to cover them whole with the colour. These were actually some of my favourite shapes of applicators, however this one isn't as soft as Essence's, it's also a bit smaller, but it's fine. 


Staying power is excellent as at most such products. These will last through almost everything and need preferably an oil based remover to get them off. I notice no scent.

It was 6.90 € and the shelves were still full in Palmanova two weeks ago. These are also still available online, only shade 02 is sold out. 


Have a great day!

Sunday 25 October 2015

Physicians Formula Nude Wear Glowing Nude Blush


I'm just in love with the packaging of the Nude Wear line. It's seriously gorgeous and so well made. Even before I learned I'll get this blush to review, I was researching Nude Wear online because I wanted a few pieces of the collection - who doesn't like pretty makeup on displayed on their vanity, right? There are several items in that line, but I got the blush in the shade Rose.


I got the shade Rose (Natural is the second shade in this line) and it consist of four shades, while the silver/white letters are just an overspray and it disappear after the first or second use. Two of the shade are warm and two cool, but overall the coolness prevails. There is a cool pink almost a violet pastel shade, a pastel peach, a very classic warm pink and a cool fuchsia shade, which is the darkest. If you use a very small brush you might be able to use them individually, but it's very hard. Blended together they create a light cool pink shade that almost verges on pastel violet shade. It's a shade that will look amazing on people with a cool skin tone. It's very light as my swatches indicate and I though it's a shade that will work exclusively for pale girlies like me, but I tested it on someone several shades darker than me (about NC25) and it showed up well, I didn't even had to put loads on. And she loved it because it gave her that cute porcelain doll pink cheeks. 


The texture is medium soft, basically it's pretty standard in terms of quality, it doesn't look too powdery and it blends well. The finish on the cheeks is satin with a slight sheen.

The packaging is so divine. The main feature is the faux beige leather and inside it's muted pink satin. The rose gold bow is just adorable and because of it I actually use this blush as a background item in many of my pictures. Like all Physicians Formula's cheek products it has an additional compartment with a nicely-sized mirror (actually came handy several times now) and a flat brush with a rose gold handle.  


If you're a porcelain princess with a cool skin tone you'll love this. But even those with a warm and a bit darker skin tone can use this, though on warm skin tones I'm more used to seeing peachy shades like Sexy Booster blush. The packaging of the entire line is a complete winner for me and I proudly display it on my shelves. I will buy at least one more product from this line, Nude Wear Glowing Nude powder, which is apparently a fantastic setting powder that gives you a bit of a glow. They also have a foundation (in liquid and stick form) as well as a concealer, but they are all sadly too dark for me. 

Nude Wear Glowing Nude Blush costs 15.90 € on Click2Chic (objava v slovenščini).


Have a great day!

*A product I got as a part of being a blogger at Click2Chic.