Jordana Best Lash Extreme Mascara

If you spend any time watching Youtube tutorials, praises of this mascara may not have escaped your notice, but it's not just individuals singing it praises, it also has a very high rating on Makeup Alley where is very uncommon for a mascara to have a rating above 4.0. I'm not one for regular formulas, I say that so often that I have a feeling someone will write it on my tombstone one day, but I wanted to test this one because I thought some might be interested in it. 

Wand: It has the most basic, old school wand that really doesn't look like anything special. But to me, these are some of the best ones (like at Lancome Hypnose). It's not the best at defining, it's more for volume, as is usual for such brushes.

Formula: This is the type of mascara that performs well from the moment you open it. It's among the wetter formulas and it gives a lot of volume and length, but gets even better as it thickens with time. This is a mascara for those who love massive lashes.  Because it's so wet from the start, there is bound to be some mess, so application should be done with a bit more care and very importantly with patience to avoid any clumped bits. Pieces don't fall off during the day, it doesn't flake nor smudge (after it dries on the eyelashes), but don't cry with it. In general it stays on well. It doesn't manage to keep my lashes curled, though I heard some reviews say it's good at these thing, but my lashes drop almost immediately with this one, as I expected considering it's a regular formula and a very wet one at that. The best regular formula mascara I found that isn't a complete disappointment when it comes to holding lashes is Physician's Formula Va Va Voom.

I get the hype of this mascara. It's a volume bomb, just like some Essence mascaras and its very affordable abroad. It's very basic looking, but it delivers. Since it a regular formula it's also easy to remove. After over a month it's still quite wet, meaning it will probably last a very long time, however, it is still a bit messy, so not a mascara I would put on in a hurry. 

Have a great day!

Jordana Matte Lipstick 47 Nude

A couple of months ago I reviewed a bunch of Jordana's Matte lipsticks and recently I got another shade called Nude. I already raved about the formula of these, they were even a part of my Best Buys under 5 €, though the packaging might deceive you into thinking these aren't that good, but they are honestly not that far off from some shades among the Mac Matte finish line. I expected Nude to be completely different based on swatches online and that's the reason I didn't pick it initially, but I was so wrong because this is one of the prettiest nude shades I've tried. 

Texture: I talked about the formula of these in my previous review, but let's go again - these are thicker lipsticks, as is usual for matte finishes, but still creamy enough for a nice, even application. The colour is fully opaque and this one has a more creamy-satin finish than matte, which when it comes to nude shades is a plus if you don't want the lip colour to look chalky. I don't find these actively drying, but they are not moisturising, however, on my lips this does not present itself as a problem. I find these comfortable on the lips and as far as I read reviews on Makeup Alley, an overwhelming majority feels the same way, but as I always say, it also depends on in what condition your lips are.

Colour: Nude is a beautiful neutral nude with an equal amount of pink and peachy tones. I compared it to my nude shades and the closest shades would be Mac's Patisserie (a bit peachier) and Mac's Peach Blossom (a bit pinker, also similar to Mac's Hue). It's actually more like a perfect mix of those two shades. As I said it's not chalky or dry looking on the lips, but if your lips tend to be dry a lot, play it safe with a layer of lip balm under it.

Staying Power is comparable to Mac's matte formula, so good, even this light one lasts some decent amount of time, but I didn't check in hours.

Scent: As at the rest a simple fruity-vanilla scent that isn't strong. 

Packaging is the only thing that isn't impressive at these lipsticks. The packaging is seriously cheap. It's very fragile, so don't plan on carrying these in your bags. However, it's the product inside that matters and that one wins hand down. I'd rather have a cheap packaging and a great product inside than vice versa. 

Price and availability: All of mine are from Click2Chic where they cost 2.60 € (I got them to swatch for their website). International readers can get them on official Jordana websites (US and EU), Beauty Joint and eBay. 

For the last three or so years, you don't really see me with a proper nude lipstick often. I'm so pale such shades usually wash me out, but I'm really digging this one. It's a simple colour, not too light, nor too peachy or too cool pink and isn't chalky. If I decided to wear a nude shade in the past, I always grabbed Mac's Peach Blossom, but I think this one might replace it or it will at least receive an equal amount of wear.

Have a great day!

New In #39

SOAP & GLORY Greatest Scrub Of All

Boots finally started shipping Soap & Glory to Slovenia and I didn't hesitate to order a few bits. I haven't had a proper manual face scrub in at least five years if not more and this one has such a high rating on Makeup Alley that I had to include it in my order. It smells like laundry detergent - strange for Soap & Glory to have such a bland scent, but I don't mind. It's a mix of large and very small dense beads that polish the skin rather well, but I wouldn't say my skin is completely smooth. Well, the cheeks definitely are super smooth after use, but it still have some problem areas around the nose, on the chin and in the corner of my eyes (I'm sure you can see that in my mascara pictures). Still, with more frequent use I'm hoping I'll finally get smooth skin again. I'll do a proper review about this in time, but so far I like it more than any manual scrub I've used.   

Boots International, £9.00

SOAP & GLORY Mist You Madly Body Spray 

250 ml

This also has a high rating on Makeup Alley and though I never smelled it in person, I took a risk and ordered it, besides they had a 3 for 2 so it was free. Kind of. I really like the scent. It smells so nice, classy, vintage-y, floral-clean (citrusy) and it has a high-end fragrance vibe. Staying power on the skin is weak, so I prefer to spray this on clothes and hair to make it last longer. The packaging is great because it sprays a very fine mist.

Notes: Bergamot, Blackcurrant, Magnolia, Freesia, Vanilla and Musk.

Boots International, £6.50

SOAP & GLORY Smoothie Star Breakfast Scrub 

300 ml

I love Soap & Glory scrubs, they are seriously so good and Flake Away is my all-time favourite, but I got this one because I wanted to try more of them and I read this one is supposedly the harshest. I'm not loving the scent of this. Is smells like maple syrup, in fact very close to the real deal, but as a European I don't find maple syrup all that amazing and the only thing that is acceptable on pancakes is a mix of Nesquick chocolate syrup and coconut cream. For those who haven't tried maple syrup yet, the scent it closest to toffee candy or if you ever tried those McGriddles they used to have in McDonalds. It's not as harsh as Flake Away, but it's still very, very good and it's so creamy/balmy. This one actually washes off completely and doesn't leave an oily filter behind like Flake Away. I love that the pot is so huge and hopefully I won't save this one till eternity because I really need to use scrubs more.

Boots International, £8.00

SOAP & GLORY Mini Scrub Em And Leave Em Body Buff 

50ml

Breakfast scrub wasn't my favourite in terms of scent, but this one is amazing. The scent is the same as at Mist you Madly spray, so a great one. The scrubby bits again aren't as harsh as at Flake Away, but the formula is so soft and creamy. I should get this one in full size.

Boots International, £2.50

SOAP & GLORY Hand Maid Antibacterial Hand Cleansing Gel

50 ml

Love this! I only had those pharmacy smelling antibacterial gels, but this one smells gorgeous like fruity sweets. I think it smells like 505 s crtom hard candy or it could be some other candy from my childhood. It dries very fast and leaves none of that film or stickiness behind, also it says it's contains some moisturising ingredient, but I don't have dry hands often, so I don't notice a difference.

Boots International, £2.50

BALEA Golden Glamour Verwöhnpeeling

Golden Glamour is the vanilla-patchouli sister of Red Love "spa" line in DM. At the beginning of the year I realized that I really need to stock up on more scrubs so I'll essentially force myself to use them more often and I grabbed this one because it was cheapest, plus I had high hopes that it's rough since it's a sugar scrub. It has such a strange texture that's difficult to describe. It's like a hard jelly with sugar. Closest I can compare it to is those Lush weird jelly shower products that are slippery as hell, but this is easier to grab, though some bits might still fall out of your hands. The sugar particles are quite densely packed, but it's not abrasive. It's a stronger scrub than Garnier's Ultimate Beauty Oil Beauty Scrub, but a lot weaker than my favourite Soap & Glory Flake Away Scrub. I think people with sensitive skin will find it harsh, but most others will love it, while I'd like it a bit harsher. It foams in contact with water and nourishes the skin a touch, though it doesn't leave an oily filter like Soap & Glory's. The scent is a synthetic vanilla that's in car fragrances and home sprays - it's fine, but Red Love is much better (my friend says it smells like cookies, though). I like it, it's not bad and I would repurchase if I needed something quick and inexpensive, but Soap & Glory's are much better. 

Ingredients.

DM, 3.49 €

DOVE Advanced Hair Series Quench Absolute Supreme Crème Serum

In German : Locken Haarpflege Supreme Creme Serum

I already talked a lot about this in my monthly favourites, so I won't repeat myself much. I grabbed this purely because it was 50 % off, but it turned out to be probably the best drugstore hair product I've ever tried. It's a simple creamy serum (with silicones) that you can use on dry and wet hair - it works very well in both ways. I love this on dry hair because it makes the hair so polished, shiny and eliminates frizz. I'm really very happy with this product. 

Ingredients.

Müller, I paid 3.99 €, but I think regular price was around 7 €. I can't remember because it was over a month ago and I haven't been in Müller since.

ESSENCE Studio Nails All in One Complete Care

I'm a simple girl. I see all-in-one on the label of a nail polish and that's all I need to hear. Actually I've been base coat-less for a few months now and I decided it might be time to buy a new one. I didn't check any reviews, it's not a product I would care much about, so I grabbed the cheapest and most multi-tasting one I could find. It promises to act as a ridge-filler (don't have those), base coat, high shine top coat and a colour refresher (that last one is a bit weird. They were probably getting so desperate at how to oversell me a clear nail polish). I don't like this. It's thick and takes forever to dry, especially if you use it as a top coat and it actually doesn't dry completely even after eight hours. I should have paid a euro more for that gel one in the white packaging, now I'm stuck with this one. This is a big miss for me. 

Müller, 1.99 €

CARRÉ HOMME Baume Aprés-rasage

I though I'll let this pass me by, but I heard one too many good thing about Nivea's Aftershave Balm as a primer to ignore it. I'm not the biggest fan of how Nikkie (Nikkie Tutorials) applies her makeup. She's talented all right, but it's all just a little bit too much for me and no one will ever convince me that that much foundation (and highlighter) looks nice in person, and life is not all Instagram and bright studio lights. I've known about the whole glycerine thing for a long time. It's in Mac's Fix+ and a million other products (hand creams have a high content usually), so it not a newly discovered miracle by a long shot, but maybe in this balm form it works. To be fair, I think it has a lot to do with all the silicones in it too. I checked all the shops for Nivea's balm and I could not find it under 7 €, which is frankly way too much for something I may not even like (I swear it was half the price 10 years ago), so me being me, I went to Leclerc and got a 1.5 € alternative. I checked the ingredients side by side and the both have almost the same ones, just a bit mixed up, but glycerine is on the second place as is Cyclopentasiloxane too, so not all that different. I've been using it for over a month, testing with all foundations I have and I can say that yes, with some foundations it works brilliantly. Especially foundations that I don't get along with such as Rimmel's Lasting Finish Nude and Manhattan's Easy Match (by the way, it's being discontinued) which with this balm look pretty much perfect. It definitely helps the foundation to wear off much nicer. So yes, I do like it and it cheap as chips, but I suspect it may be breaking me out a bit as my skin hasn't been completely clear once in this month and that never happens to me. It also smells like a bus driver that's trying too much, so not my favourite scent to be fair. By the way, it's like a light lotion-gel texture and I rub it in until it's slightly sticky, so the foundations sticks on better. 

Ingredients.

E.Leclerc, 1.50 € (I'm sure DM and Müller have their own "dupes" of Nivea's balm too) 

eBay Metallic Brushes

My full set of metallic brushes finally arrived after over a month. I have the contour and blush ones from before and I use them daily, the contour one for foundation because it's dense and blends so well, and the blush one for, well, blush as well as highlighter. The whole set contains seven brushes:

Triangle foundation brush - my least favourite. It's a bit stiff and plastic-feeling, also I don't get the shape, it really isn't the best, but it did apply the foundation well. This one smells very chemical, while the rest don't.

Big fluffy powder blush - such a soft brush that is great for applying a thin veil of powder on the skin. Great brush.

Blush brush - I have two of these. It's a more precise blush brush and very soft, so it performs better with more pigmented blushes, while with others I need to layer the colour, but I've been using it all the time since I bought it back in December.

Contour brush - Also have two of these. I original used this for contouring at which it performs so well, but since I don't contour daily, I started using it as a foundation brush and it's perfect. I love that it's flat, but dense because I can blend around the eyes and nose a lot easier than with other brushes. Great brush.

Eyeshadow blending brush - quite big, but great at blending harsh edges. It's among denser such brushes and also nice for blending concealer.

Dome Crease brush - too big for the crease, but I like it for applying colour on the lid. I thought since it's synthetic it won't pick up colour well, but it works so great with Chocolate Bar palette and blends well too.

Liner brush - pretty standard, but perhaps a bit too thick for a gel eyeliner. I use it for applying colour under the lower lashes and darkening the upper lash line.

eBay, €9.32

 *MILANI Amore Matte Lip Creme 

Gorgeous

I just got this yesterday, so I haven't had much time to play with. These were on my wishlist for quite some time, so when I heard I'll get one to test, I was so excited. These don't come in the shades that were originally launched, that was actually a limited edition, but the permanent ones, which also underwent a formula update, come in a very similar selection of shades. I loved this the moment I opened the package and even more when I applied it. I selected the colour, so it's totally a "me" shade - a magenta red shade that I wholeheartedly adore. The formula is reminiscent of my old, sadly already discontinued favourites, Essence Stay Matte Lip Creams, but so much better. It smells the same (vanilla-fruity), applies the same and it's opaque with one coat, but it dries much faster to a perfect matte finish. 

Click2Chic, 9.96 €

*MILANI Eye Tech Extreme Liquid Eye Liner

01 Blackest Black

I was hoping I'll get a chance to try this one day. I love liquid eyeliners and it will be a great help in making future "job posts". The shape of the nib is very similar to L'Oreal's Perfect Slim. It's a long, felt tip, but precise and well saturated with product. I got it yesterday, so I need some time to properly test it out, but I'm wearing it today and it is indeed very similar to L'Oreal's one, which is still one of my favourites.

Click2Chic, 7.23 €

*BALMI Super Cube Lip Balm

Coconut

Balmi's were also on my wishlist for a while and purely because they look so cute. I got the coconut version, though they sell so many others including a mint green one and rose gold with a berry scent. It smells exactly like Yves Rocher Malayan Coconut Eau de toilette so pretty good. It's not a super sugary version of coconut scent, but fresher, less candy like. It's a creamy type of lip balm, so luckily not waxy (don't like those) and it nourished my lips well, but I need to get used to the application as I've never used such unique forms of lip balm before.

Click2Chic, 6.49 €

*ESSENCE Wake Up, Spring TE March-April 2016

I got a few bits from Essence's spring collection to swatch for Click2Chic. You can see the preview of the whole collection on Polona's blog here.

Eyeliner pen 01 happy first day of spring - a white felt tip eyeliner. It needs to be layered because it's on the sheer side, but lasts very well. It can transfer, so I would set it with an eyeshadow. //2.19 €

Blush 01 hello sunshine! - I adore the packaging of this because it's like those from Physicians Formula as it has and additional compartment underneath and a mirror. 01 hello sunshine! is a classic peach blush with a highlighter-y finish (finely milled pink shimmer that is only visible under direct light). It's on the sheer side, but with layering you can build up the colour just fine.  //3.59 €

Lipstick pen 02 bye-bye winter! - some seriously good quality lipstick in a pen form. Nicely opaque with a creamy finish, but contains a lot of wax and it completely survived meals and drinking. Impressed. The shade is a basic light-medium neutral pink. //2.49 €

*REVLON Ultra Volume Mascara Waterproof

So Revlon did something unprecedented and discontinued ALL of their mascaras. Pretty crazy, right? Kinda glad I didn't have a favourite among them because I know I'd be devastated. So they decided to completely revamped their system of mascaras. The flashy names and tubes are gone, and what rose on their ashes is a collection of simplified mascaras that don't confuse you with elaborate titles. Not sure how this change will bode with their loyal customers, but I like this step back and taking it all on a more simple level. I got the Ultra Volume one to test, waterproof of course, but regular one exists as well with the same brush and packaging. The brush is that evergreen classic, the good old-school brush that is bigger and comparable to Essence's I <3 Extreme. The formula is thin and as usual for waterproof mascaras it's on the dry side. It defines so well, the brush literally catches every lash and it almost gives an effect like your natural lashes looks so great and you're not wearing tons of mascara. It holds the curl all day. I've been enjoying using this in the last couple of weeks, I usually go for big, fake-looking lashes and this one gives me a more natural effect. Reviews and swatches for the products starting from here are already on the Click2Chic blog.

Click2Chic, 10.49 €

*JORDANA Matte Lipstick

47 Nude

I already have four of these and I praised the formula, not just in the review, but also in my Best Buys under 5 € post. These are wonderful matte lipsticks, way better than you would expect considering the price and their packaging, and they rival much more expensive lipsticks with their smooth and very pigmented formula. When I was picking these, I carefully avoided Nude because I was so sure it's an ugly brown shade. I have never been so wrong in my life. It is stunning. Quite possibly the prettiest nude shade in my collection because it's a mix of my favourite Mac's Peach Blossom and Patisserie, but it's closer to the first and it's matte and not at all in that horrible chalky, dry way. Basically it's a light peachy-pink-beige shade. You can find me wearing it here.

Click2Chic, 2.60 €

*MODELS OWN Chrome Nail Polishes

Chrome Copper and Chrome Grey

I'm not into metallic effects, but I do admit these look cool on the nails, the grey one is actually much better looking for my taste. These are like frosty nail polishes, so those that leave streaks and are not the easiest to apply nicely, but they are very pigmented, one coat is enough, though they recommend two-three. I tried applying more than one, but it kind of got messed up and too thick, so I did one coat and it looked really good. These are supposedly excellent for stamping if you're into such things. I only have an old Essence stamping kit, but it worked well. There are several shades of these including silver and gold, but I only have two: Copper with is a rose gold copper shade, so a bit pinker version of copper. It's lighter than the bottle and I wish it were a bit more intense. Chrome grey is beautiful, it has this gun metal effect since it's medium silver-grey. 

Click2Chic, 5.95 €

*MODELS OWN Hypergel Nail Polishes

Cashmere Rose and Robin Red

I got another shade from this line, the beautiful Midsummer Mauve and the formula is no different. These are the two new shades released recently. Cashmere Rose is a light pink shade with a warm undertone that is similar to Essence's Forgive Me nail polish, while Robin Red is an interesting warm red with a retro feel as it's a bit desaturated, almost like you put an picture ageing filter on red. The formula is thick even for a gel inspired formula and it applies smoothly, plus any bumps even themselves out fast after application. The finish is very glossy as at basically all such formulas. 

Click2Chic, 5.95 €

*REVLON Brow Fantasy

Brunette

It may not have escaped your notice that I never speak about brow product and there is a simple reason behind that - I don't do anything to my eyebrows. I don't pluck them, shape them, fill them, draw them or whatever the hell kids are doing these days. I'm not saying my eyebrows are perfect, far from it, but they are fine and I think it's such a silly thing to devote your time to, besides, I never notice anyone's eyebrows anyway. But that's just my opinion. Anyway I got this to review/swatch for Click2Chic and I gave it a try. I found the pencil hard like most such products, but it gives more of an effect of a crayon, so it's a pretty soft type of look. The brow gel is tinted, but the tint doesn't show on my eyebrows. The wand is not the smallest, but works fine, it brushes and tames the hairs nicely without a crunchy feeling. Combination of the pencil and gel held all day. The shade I have brunette is completely wrong for my eyebrows, we decided not to post the before/after because of it, as the shade is too light and too warm for me, which gave me reddish eyebrows and mine are actually very cool brown-black. As I said I don't use brow products, so I gave this to someone else to try who's more into these thing and I thought that the pencil is quite hard, but she says it's softer than most and the wand has a bit too much product on it, but the gel is great because it holds the eyebrows in place really well. Basically she liked it, though the pencil could be a bit harder. The shade fit her very well, she's got medium brown hair with a warm undertone. Brow Fantasy has in general an excellent feedback in most reviews I read, check Makeup Alley for more opinions about it.

Shades Dark Blonde and Dark Brunette also exist.

Click2Chic, 10.96 €

Have a great day!

Best Buys Under 5 € in 2015

At the end of each year I make an overview of all the best product that I got to try that year. I do my monthly favourites where all products are included regardless when I got them and you may have spotted a special page called All Time Favourites, which I regularly update with my absolute favourite product, but these posts are only about new discoveries of the year (links to these yearly posts are at the end of my All Time Favourites page). First up is all the goodies that fit tight budgets and despite their low cost, are truly impressive. 

ESSENCE Matt Touch Blushes

I don't consider Essence being particularly good when it comes to powder products, but they totally nailed these. In the year of illuminating blushes,  Essence decided to go matte against all expectations and did very well. These are so smooth, it's almost like they are not even powder blushes because there is none of that tell-tale powdery finish on the cheeks  so it looks like your cheeks are naturally such colour and staying power is impressive as well. They only made two shades, which is a bummer, since neither of these shades are what I usually wear (I think I'll always be a Catrice I'm Nuts About You kind of girl), but they are the classic peach and pink shades that should suit so many people. 

2.79 €

CATRICE Prime and Fine Professional Contouring Palette

010 Ashy Radiance

We witnessed a miracle in 2015 - we can now walk into a drugstore and pick up a decent contour powder here in Slovenia. Well, at least one that fits us super pale girls. The shade of the contour powder is a nice taupe brown that manages to fake a shadow well, while the highlighter is a subtle champagne shade. I've heard very conflicting opinions about these palettes. Some absolutely hate it, however, I think they are the ones that picked shade 020, but I'm not sure if that is the case for all. I have a review that includes a look with it where you can see how well it shows up on my face, but I also use this on others when I do their makeup and it works just fine.  

4.69 €

ESSENCE I <3 Extreme Waterproof Mascara

I think I just love this mascara more and more. It gives me big lashes with a ton of volume, it doesn't smudge or flake and most importantly it keeps my lashes curled all day. I really love this mascara and just hope that Essence never discontinues it because I plan to repurchase it for eternity. 

2.99 €

JORDANA Matte Lipsticks

Do not be turned off by the cheap looking packaging because the product inside is amazing, especially considering how much you're paying for this lipstick. These are all fully opaque creamy matte lipsticks that are not that different from Mac's Matte finish lipsticks. There is a huge variety of shades available, so they are excellent also for experimenting with colours. 

$1.49 - 2.60 €

GOLDEN ROSE Velvet Matte Lipstick

Golden Rose products are my latest addition on this list, they don't even have their individual reviews yet, but I wanted to include them because I can already say that they are really impressive. Just like Jordana's, these are beautiful matte lipsticks with a lovely creamy formula, though these are slightly harder the first few uses. I tested them on their stall and they have a lot of wearable shades, but I only grabbed shade 12 to try which is a medium muted rose that I've been truly enjoying wearing recently. 

3.90 €

GOLDEN ROSE Matte Lipstick Crayon

Another matte lip product by Golden Rose, but in a different form. I find these are slightly creamier than the lipstick form and they are again another great set of lip products by this brand. I only own the darkest shades in this range - 02 and 03 (05 on the pic isn't mine), but I actually noticed that a lot of the shades are the same as in the Velvet Matte range, so you can pick in which version would you prefer to have your lip colour. These are not as precise as you would expect them to be (unless you intend to sharpen them constantly), but if you prefer the pen design, you may like these more than Velvet Mattes, though both are great.

3.90 €

ESSENCE Longlasting Lipliners

05 Lovely Frappuccino and 03 Yummy Berry

Essence added another line of lip liners, this time retractable ones and with a different formula than their originals. Considering their lip products usually don't wow me, I think they did a great job. The formula is creamy, but still firm enough to be precise and thankfully isn't nearly as fragile as Catrice's retractable lip liners. These can easily be worn on their own or used for lining. I have two shades for now: the stunning cool pink-purple 03 Yummy Berry and the perfect 90's shade for me 05 Lovely Frappuccino. 

1.59 €

KIKO Smart Lip Pencil 

709 Magenta

This was the year when I finally got to try Kiko's products and I ended up being pretty impressed with the brand on a whole. Smart Lip Pencil in Magenta is a stunning bright pink-red shade that is similar to Catrice's lipstick in MATTraction, so a type of shade  I adore. The formula reminds me of a mix between the original Essence and revamped Bourjois pencils, meaning it combines good qualities of both.

2.50 €

KIKO Nail Lacquer 

345 Jade Green

Told you Kiko is an impressive brand. They have a massive selection of nail polish shades and among them I found my favourite mint green shade. Obviously I have a lot of similar mint shades from before, but the reason I love this one is because it has by far the best formula of such a shade. If you ever tried Essie's Mint Green Candy (or Fiji), especially the one with the old formula and thin brush, then I'm so sorry you had to go through that, believe me I feel your pain and I can tell you that this one is miles better. It's so much smoother and needs just two coats for a nice, even finish. Jade Green is a slightly greener, more muted shade of mint green than Mint Candy Apple and I actually find it prettier. 

3.90 €

CATRICE Nail Lacquer 

18 Bloody Mary To Go

I've been wearing nail polish since I was ten, possibly even younger, yet I only got the classic red one this year. A travesty, I know. Bloody Mary to Go is a medium blue toned red that is a type of shade that everyone should own. Since Catrice finally changed the shape of their brushes, their nail polishes are so much easier to use, so they are finally worth buying.

2.59 €

SUN DANCE Selbst Bräunungs Tonik

Self-tanning Toner

Might not be the best idea to include this here because I'm not sure whether is a limited edition or not, though I hope they will release it again next summer and some DM's may have some of these left. Finding a good self-tanning product for the face is incredibly hard, but finding one that is also very budget friendly is impossible. At least it was until Sun Dance made this one. This might be my all-time favourite such product and I find no fault in it. It's like a regular toner that you apply with a cotton pad, it's almost immediately dry to the touch, it's not sticky and I love that its effect is gradual because that means you easily get a very even tan (before and after is in my original New In post). 

However, I have heard from a few people that this burns on their skin. My skin isn't sensitive at all and I find this toner to be very gentle, but if your skin is sensitive or you ever had some sort of a reaction to skin care, this might not work for you. 

3.49 €

BALEA Beauty Effect Power Maske

If your skin is anything like mine and gets dehydrated as well as a bit drier in the colder months, this is a fantastic mask to treat these problems. It's similar to for example Origin's Drink Up intensive - in my humble opinion they work exactly the same, except that this is a lot cheaper. You apply a thick coat of it after cleansing and leave it overnight. By the morning the skin feels so much better. It also has hyaluronic acid in it, which is always a plus. 

about 3.50 €

BALEA Bodybutter Nuss

I've tried a lot of Balea's body butters but this one is by far the best. It has the best texture so far, but it's still very thick and takes a long time to sink it, however, that makes it excellent for really dry skin. The scent of it is amazing, it's exactly like Monte dessert, so a rich chocolate hazelnut scent that just makes you want to eat it. I've seen a few of these in small DM's but I think they are slowly disappearing from the shelves.

2.99 €

BELLES SAISONS Eau de Cologne Lavande

The gods of irony must be laughing that one of the cheapest things on this list is actually a fragrance. Ok, it's a cologne that's actually for men, but it still counts. I discovered it whilst exploring E.Leclerc's beauty section which is a real treasure trove of products that aren't sold anywhere else in Slovenia. I always wanted a lavender fragrance and this one smells so good. It's a eau de cologne, so it won't last all day, but the bottle is truly massive, so you can completely drench yourself in it. I added a spray pump, just to make it easier to use, otherwise it's like any other men cologne just with an opening.

E.Leclerc, 1.51 € (250 ml) 

eBay Metallic Rose Gold Brushes

Blush brush and contour brush

Oh eBay. Sometimes you just blow me away. These brushes are beyond amazing for the price! I only have two so far, but I'll sure be buying some more. They look expensive, though the handle is plastic, which is actually much better to me and the bristles are amazingly soft. The blush brush a classic rounded, but flat design and it's among the smaller such brushes, but I love more precise brushes for blush and it's quite soft, so well suited for very pigmented blushes. The contour blush is very dense, wide on one side and flatter on the other. It's a great brush also for foundation due to the density of the bristles and it of course works well for its original purpose, contouring, as it fits into the hollows of the cheeks perfectly.  

1.66 - £1.70

So that is my selection for best under 5 € this year. Other products will follow in the next days.

Have a great day!

Jordana Easyliner Rock n' Rose

This shade was chosen because of its high rating on Makeup Alley, but I have to admit that when it landed on my doorstep, I couldn't help to wonder why is it so popular. Granted I'm probably completely the wrong person for such as shade as I'm super pale and such shades look far better on medium skin tones, but still it's is very brown for a lip liner. 

Rock n' Rose is a caramel brown shade with some pink-orange tones. Not my personal favourite as I dislike brown lip shades, but Mac's Spice and Subculture are also brown and so many people love them. Must be something about brown on the lips. It should look a lighter on medium skin tones. I tried to find some more pictures how it looks on other people, but there aren't that many full-face ones, check Pinterest for comparisons and some looks with it.

The texture is very similar to Essence's Longlasting pencils, so it's soft, but not too soft, meaning it's still precise enough and you can easily apply it all over the lips. It's a retractable liner and thankfully it doesn't break. Staying power is ok, again similar to Essence's Longlasting pencils. Don't ask me in hours because I never check these things. 

It costs 3 € on Click2Chic, 2.37 € on the Jordana EU site and 2.49 $ on Jordana US site. 

Have a great day!

Jordana Twist & Shine Moisturizing Balm Stain

These have a crazy high feedback on Makeup Alley and I've heard that they are pretty good substitutes for the original such balms - Clinique Chubby Sticks. I don't have those, nor Revlon's which are also said to be similar, but based on my swatches made in the shop I can say that they are similar enough. When it comes to lip colours, I'm a matte girl through and through, so these don't appeal to me as much as Jordana's matte lipsticks, but as a good blogger (ok, semi-decent) I decided to take these two shades to swatch because I know how many people utterly adore such lip products.

These are that classic crayon design and are a mix of lip balm, lipstick plus gloss and at these there is an actually stain component as well. On the lips they feel like a waxy lip balm, so that type that tends to stick better on the lips, but you can feel that layer of product on the lips. They are moisturising enough and feel comfortable on the lips. The shine wears off, as does that waxy layer of product, but these leave an actual stain behind. Especially Fresh Fig will leave a pretty intense stain on the lips. 

09 Gorgeous Peony

 Gorgeous Peony is a natural, muted brownish light pink shade. 

 10 Fresh Fig

Fresh Fig is a lot more intense that Gorgeous Peony, it's a dark red that is semi-transparent, but you can build it up for more intensity. As I said before this one leaves a strong stain as its wearing off. It's a lovely choice for those who want to wear red, but in a more subtle way.

These have the same type of packaging than Clinique's and Revlon's version, so they don't require to be sharpened. I notice no particular scent.

They cost 4.20 € on Click2Chic, 3.56 € on Jordana's EU website and 3$ on Jordana's US website.

Have a great day!