Milani Amore Matte Lip Creme Gorgeous

Matte lip creams are my favourite makeup products and I get so excited every time I try a new one. Amore Matte Lip Creams were on my wishlist since they launched, though the first ones were actually meant as limited edition. Due to popularity, they've since released a permanent line, but the colours and names are different, they also changed the formula as well. I haven't tried the first version of the formula and this shade that I have, Gorgeous, is a part of the new permanent line, so I can't compare them, but I heard not everyone was happy with the changes they made. If you intend to Google these for swatches, keep in mind that most of those shades aren't available any more.

Texture: This is a very pigmented and creamy lip cream, most similar to Essence Stay Matte ones, including in terms of scent, but these set within a minute or so to a perfect velvet matte finish. They set so fast, I didn't even have a chance to snap my traditional before/after picture of it turning into a matte finish. It can transfer, but only in traces. It dries to this uniform layer on the lips, so it can feel uncomfortable if your lips are often dry. I found these ok to wear and didn't experience any discomfort whatsoever, but I gave it to my friend to try and she started complaining about how tight and dry it feels on her lips.

Colour: The colour could hardly be more me, so naturally I love it. I literally squealed from excitement when I first put it on because it's so stunning in person. It's described by Milani as raspberry wine and I think that is the best description of it. It's a magenta-red-purple shade - bright, but deep. I don't have a dupe, but it's in the same colour family as Mac's D for Danger and Essence Stay Matte in Berry Smoothie. 

Nude'dude palette on the eyes (Flirty on the lid, Friendly in the outer corners), Max Factor Creme Puff Lavish Mauve on the cheeks.

Staying power: Matte lip creams tend to outlast regular lipsticks, especially such as this one with a proper matte finish. Amore is another long-lasting one, in fact I had such a hard time scrubbing off the swatch and needed an oily remover. Oily food will break it down and since it's a bright shade, patches will be visible in that case. Though it doesn't transfer, it can still smudge sometimes, but not a lot. 

Scent: It has a gentle vanilla fruity scent. It's the same as at the discontinued Essence Stay Matte lip creams.

Packaging: A square plastic tube with a doe foot applicator. I love the gold cap, it makes it look more expensive than it is.

Price and availability: Mine is from Click2Chic (I got it for the purposes of swatching for their shop, I chose the colour myself) and it costs 9.96 €. The price is about the same in other places, international readers can find these on official Milani websites (USA and EU) and on Beauty Joint.

I adore the colour of this one, it's one of the most stunning shades ever and I like this one in general, especially because it has a fantastic matte finish, although it sometimes doesn't wear the nicest, but that's more connected with what you eat and do. If you have dry lips, I suspect you won't like these (maybe try their Moisture Matte lipsticks instead, they are fabulous), but if you're like me, you might enjoy these and I actually wouldn't mind having more of these.

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!

Milani Powder Blush 01 Romantic Rose

I've already done a fair amount of gushing about this blush and included it in my favourite products of 2015, even though it technically wasn't mine at the time, but now it is, since my cousin just decide to give it to me (thank you!). These have been on my wishlist for absolutely ages, actually ever since I've seen them at Holly from Eating Lipstick, when I fell in love with the design, despite not loving the original selection of colours that much. Luckily, they expanded their shade range since and I got the shade Romantic Rose which is a part of the permanent selection, but I still have some of their limited edition ones on my wishlist. 

Colour: This is basically just a touch warmer than Catrice's I'm Nuts About You, a shade I've been completely nuts about for a couple of years now and it's my favourite blush ever - well now it's tied with this one. It's one of those difficult to describe shades because it's like a mix of a blush and a bronzer, but best I can describe it is as a muted natural brownish warm pink shade and it's a type of shade that goes with literally anything and it's excellent for combining with red and vampy shades. I think it's perfect.

Texture: It's nicely pigmented and I quickly get enough colour for my (pale) cheeks. Some say it looks a bit powdery and it takes more work to blend, but I don't find it so and it's like a regular good blush to me. The finish looks matte to me. 

Staying power: Staying power is comparable to Catrice's blush, which tends to last well on me. It lasts at least 8 hours (that's when I checked once and it was still looking good), but at the end of the day, it's mostly faded.

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in 07 Nude-ist on the lips. 

Packaging: It comes in a plastic case in that typical Milani greenish gold tone, but the stunningly gorgeous design inside steals the spotlight, so you don't really take notice of the exterior that much. The design will disappear with use, which is a tragedy, but it's just makeup. I already dropped a nail polish on it while taking pictures, I'm still disgusted by myself, but luckily it survived well. 

I'm completely smitten with this blush, I seriously just adore it. It shot up into my all-time favourites lightening fast. I love the shade, the quality is great and the design is out of this world. I just feel a bit silly now for not getting it sooner. I still have shades American Beauty Rose, Blossomtime Rose, Awakening Rose and maybe also Flora Passion on my wishlist and I hope I won't be delaying again until they disappear from the shelves as the first three are limited edition. 

You can find them on these websites: Milani Cosmetics EU 9.16 €; Milani Cosmetics USA $7.99; Beauty Crowd, £7.20; Beauty Joint, $9.99; Moja Drogerija, 14.41 € and Click2Chic, 10.46 € (last two are Slovene). 

Have a great day!

Best Products in 2015 Part 1

The end of the year is here, which means it's time for my traditional posts with best products or best buys in 2015, so products that I got this year and they really impressed me. I already posted the budget version with all the products under 5 €, but I found many more excellent products that are above that price range. I think I covered almost every category, unintentionally that is, but it was a good makeup year for me, especially when it comes to foundations. By popular request I split my favourites into two parts. This one will include all the makeup bits and the next one all the rest (nail polishes, skin care, etc,…). Links to my previous such posts are at the end of my All-time Favourites page or you can search for best buys label, but here you have makeup favourites of 2014.

NARS Sheer Glow Foundation

After years of being on my wishlist, I finally got my hands on a bottle of Sheer Glow, which got for my birthday.  I call it my princess foundation for one simple reason - it makes your skin look so perfect. It is a medium to full coverage, so it's noticeable you're wearing makeup, but I really like the level of coverage it gives, even though I'm an "invisible foundation" kinda girl. I mostly don't even need to use concealer with this, yet it doesn't feel heavy nor does it sink into pores or make a cakey mess. The shade range is another huge plus at this foundation. They don't just have really pale colours, but they also thought about undertones, though Siberia, which I'm using, is very yellow (I'm neutral), but it works. It has no pump (did I mention this foundation costs 40 €?), but I found that the pump of Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum works fine. 

L'OREAL Infallible 24H Matte Foundation

This is my summer foundation when my skin is a little bit oilier. It's a foundation with a matte finish and it sets quickly, so you don't have a lot of time to work with it, but it gives medium coverage and doesn't look flat on the skin. The best feature of this foundation - it disguises pores like nothing else I've tried. I've got before/after in my review if you want to check. The downside of this foundation is that it can cling to dry patches, so it's not for dry skin and now in the colder months, I mix it with more moisturising foundations if I want to wear it, though currently I'm mostly using other bases. The colour range is a bit of a miss as both lightest shades, Porcelain and Vanilla, are pink toned and L'Oréal is terrible at making foundation colours, so it can end up looking a bit orange if your skin tone is very warm, but on my neutral skin, it's decent enough in the summer.

REVLON Colorstay Foundation Normal/Dry Skin 

I found this one when I had a sudden urge to re-explore our drugstores for very pale foundations. I was delighted to discover that things have very much improved over the years and this good old classic won me over. Colorstay foundations are not the most natural looking, lightweight products, but the medium-full coverage, fantastic staying power and a satin-matte finish certainly impressed me. With this my skin stays matte pretty much all day and it's not even a foundation for oily/combination skin. I got the shade Ivory which is a very pale pink toned foundation and it fits me so well, despite the fact that my undertone is neutral. The one downside at this foundation is the lack of a pump.  

KIKO Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow

06 Golden Bronze and 38 Golden Taupe

These eyeshadow sticks are the best cream eyeshadows around. I currently own just two, 06 Golden Brown and 38 Golden Rose, but I would love to expand my collection. These are so creamy and pigmented, they blend easily and last ages on the eyes. I love using these on their own or as a base.  

THEBALM Nude'tude Eyeshadow Palette

I got several eyeshadow palettes this year, an overwhelming majority were drugstore, but this one was the one that truly won my heart. I'm not a patient girl, so I don't like to build up colour for ages and at Nude'Tude I don't have to. The eyeshadows are so pigmented, soft and they blend beautifully, also the selection of shades great and I use pretty much all the colours. 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.

BORN PRETTY Smooth Liquid Eye Liner with a Panda Design

I've tried a lot of eyeliners this year and it's a bit funny that this one, which looks like a toy for five-year olds is so impressive. The formula is really black, smooth and the applicator is one of those brush ones, so it's very precise and easy to work with. Actually I think I could include this one in the under 5 € post, since I've never seen it being full price, so it's very affordable as well. Plus the panda design is super cute.

NANSHY Eye Brush Set

Tapered crease, blending eyeshadow and flat definer

I have the whole set, but I'm mainly using just three brushes. The whole set suits small eyes, which is just perfect for me, so the tapped crease brush,  blending eyeshadow brush and the flat definer became my everyday brushes. These are very soft synthetic brushes, so they are great at blending and not so much at picking up colours (unless they are very pigmented like theBalm's and Urban Decay's eyeshadows). I also love that the handles are shorter than at the majority of eye brushes. It's a weird thing to say, but if you are near-sighted and you experience handles hitting the mirror all the time, I'm sure you get me. I think you can get these individually, but I'm not sure they are actually the same (the names are).

PHYSICIANS FORMULA Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Blush

There was a lot of Physicians Formula products on my blog this year, but this one is the true winner for me. Max Factor's űber hyped-up Creme Puff blushes left me cold as that famous glow was not all that visible on my cheeks, but this blush turned out to be exactly what I wanted. I have the shade Rose, which is a mix of two shades, a peachy-pink and the hot pink in the middle. It's a bit difficult to use them individually, but I always focus on the peachy pink more. It gives a nice rosy flush with a very glowy finish and the blush even smells like vanilla. Physicians Formula has some of the prettiest packaging ever and it's functional too. This one hides a very handy mirror and a brush in the back. 

MILANI Powder Blush

01 Romantic Rose

These blushes were on my wishlist since the moment I laid eyes on them. The design is the reason enough to get at least one. I heard these aren't the best as they are supposedly very powdery and I must say I don't have the foggiest what they are talking about. This shade, Romantic Rose, which I believe is one of the original ones, is beyond stunning. It's a dusty nude pink shade that is my type of shade. The quality is great, these are really strongly pigmented and apply nice as well. I would love to own more of these.

THEBALM Mary-Lou Manizer

Would you believe that this is only my second powder highlighter I own and my only gold toned as well as my only high-end one? Strange for a beauty blogger of 5+ years. There is nothing subtle about this highlighter, it was clearly designed for glow lovers. It's quite gold, but it still works for me even when I'm at my palest, I just avoid overdoing it. The glow it gives is very glamorous looking, so if you're one for more subtle highlighting, you'll probably save this one for special occasions, but believe the hype, it's worth giving a go.  

BOURJOIS Rouge Edition Velvet 

07 Nude-ist

And the top place in the best products of 2015 goes to… Nude-ist. I'm completely smitten with this. It is an outstanding shade and my most worn lip product in this year. I just instinctively grab it almost every time I leave the house. 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. Gorgeousness in a tube. And to think this was the only shade I hated at first sight when I swatched them when they launched - silly me. 

REVLON Ultra HD Lipstick 

Rose

Meet the most comfortable lipstick I've tried to date. This is my standard goes-with-everything-shade in a formula that is basically better than a lip balm. It's nicely pigmented, super soft and light on the lips, it's moisturising plus best of all, it smells like Planica ice cream (a Slovene thing. Basically three flavours of ice cream in one: vanilla, strawberry and chocolate). On me Rose is a lovely, neutral pink shade that is a shade or two darker than my natural lip colour. 

I love the formula, but only in THIS shade. Why am I emphasizing that? Because this is a lipstick that doesn't contain wax, hence why it's very soft and a red or any bright/dark shade in this formula will be a mega huge mess. So stick to light shades in this formula if you don't want to be disappointed.  

MILANI Color Statement Moisture Matte Lipstick 

Darling

When lip products are concerned I'm a matte girl through and through and I think Milani's lipstick is one of the best, if not the best I've tried so far. The finish is actually matte, not creamy-matte, it kind of almost reminds me of matte lip creams, though it's most similar to Mac's Retro Matte formula, but these are a bit creamier. I only have this one shade, though and I hope all of them are like that. I got the shade Darling which is a beautiful peachy-pink shade that is similar to Catrice's I got you Babel lip pencil. I'd really love to have more shades of these, I thinking Love, Flirty, Confident and Passion. 

MAC Lipsticks

All Fired Up and D for Dangerous

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. I'm head over heels in love with the latter, it's a shade I've been looking for at least five years - a warm purple-pink-red. The other one, All Fired Up is another stunning colour, a warm fuchsia shade, so a typical me colour. Both of these are retro matte, which is my favourite formula by Mac, however, it is quite a thick formula that some might find drying. I'd love to have full sizes of these two.

This completes the first part of my favourites in this year. Next will include all that isn't makeup and should be up soon.

Have a great day!

New In #37

ESSENCE All About Nude and All About Bronze Palettes

I never thought much of Essence eyeshadows. The ones I tried were rubbish, so I avoided buying more, but I heard some good things about these palettes and after swatching them in the shop, I put them on my wishlist. To be fair, since I got theBalm Nude'Tude palette I didn't plan on getting any more cheap eyeshadows, but I bought these because I need them for my work and they were the only ones I could just go and buy in the drugstore - stupid reason, but whatever. When I first tried these, they got a double "hmm" from me. That's the sound I make when I'm feeling underwhelmed by the product, basically it's not a good sign when I do this. They are nice... ish. Well nice for drugstore eyeshadows, but based on those swatches I made in the shop I expected a lot more pigment. They are just sheerer than I expected, though the bronze shades are nice. I don't know.. .they're not bad, but  theBalm palette is miles better ( and 8-times more expensive). It could just be the top layer and I do have a feeling they are improving the more I use them. 

You can find a few looks I did with them here. My fellow bloggers already wrote a review about these, you can find them here: Adjusting Beauty and Chunky Cheeks.

Müller, 4.39 €

 GOLDEN ROSE Velvet Matte Lipstick

12

I got my first products from this brand. I've heard about it, but they only recently came to Slovenia. They remind me of Kiko in some ways, with the large selection of products and shades as well as very affordable prices. I was highly recommended to try Velvet Matte Lipsticks and I decided on shade 12 after checking Instagram pics and saw a comparison with Mac's Mehr (they're not dupes just to be clear). I like this. It's a nice matte lipstick, quite creamy once you get through the top slightly harder layer and it reminds me a bit of Maybelline's Matte lipstick. Shade 12 is a medium muted rose, a natural shade, but darker than my lips. It's like a darker Nude-ist and I'm quite liking it at the moment. I did a swatch on the lips bellow, but I hate winter for taking swatches, so it's not completely spot on, but close enough.

Golden Rose, 3.90 €

GOLDEN ROSE Matte Lipstick Crayon

02, 03 and 05

Another product I was recommended to try and heard raves about. I get quite a few e-mails and messages from readers and friends about really dark, plumy shades and the darkest shade I own is Mac's Diva, so I wanted to explore some more affordable and ever darker options. I choose two very deep shades, 02 and 03. The first is a deep red that is similar to Diva and 03 is a deep brownish plum, which I'm not so sure about, it's not terribly pretty, but it very close to some pictures I got sent (from Pinterest obviously, which are all so clearly photoshopped). My cousin also lend me shade 05 which is a deep red. The formula is a bit creamier than of Velvets and it's not that easy to get very precise edges with it, so a lip liner is still a must at such dark shades. I noticed that some shades in the Velvet Matte range and Matte Crayon are basically the same, 02 is 23 in Velvet, 03 is 29 and 07 is 12 (Ajda is wearing Velvet 23 here). These need to be sharpened which I'm not a fan of. 

Not the best swatches, but I wanted to post them now, since I have a feeling it will take me some time to do proper reviews.

 Golden Rose, 3.90 €

GOLDEN ROSE Extreme Sparkle Eyeliner

103

I wanted a gold eyeliner for my holiday look and when I was checking the Golden Rose website before going to the actual shop, I chose Metallic Eyeliner in 02, but when I swatched them, this one looked more special, so I chose glitter over metallic. It looked a bit thin when I swatched it at home again and indeed it is a product that requires two layers, but I love the effect of it. It sparkles so nicely on the eyes, which looks so glamorous. The colour is a very yellow gold, which isn't the best, but I'm pleased with this and would love to get the silver version as well. You'll see it in action in my holiday inspired post (still working on it).

 Golden Rose, 4.50 €

 GOLDEN ROSE Eyeshadow Crayon

14

Since I discovered Kiko's Eyeshadow Sticks, I've been loving these type of creamy products as bases because they make even the cheap eyeshadows work perfectly, not to mention how quick they are to apply. I got the shade 14 which is  a warm hazelnut brown shade with a metallic finish. It's not as good as Kiko's, by that I mean it's not as intensely pigmented, it just means that the products need to be layered and when it comes to eyeshadows that's not the best thing as thick layers are prone to creasing, however, I do really like this. It blends nicely and works well as a base. The one thing I'm not a fan of is that it needs to be sharpened, which is a hassle and you essentially throw away some of product when you do it. 

Golden Rose, 3.30 €

 GOLDEN ROSE Jolly Jewels Nail Lacquer

103

Golden Rose has the most impressive nail polish collection I've ever seen. They truly have an astonishing range of colours and finishes. I wanted a dense gold glitter nail polish, which I actually searched for all over my home town. This one isn't quite it, but it caught my eye because it has an interesting combination of small gold glitter with large copper hexagons. It's not fully opaque even with several coats, instead it's more of a top coat. It sparkles under the artificial light, though when you look at it closely, it's a bit strange, since the base is warm gold and then the hexagonal flakes are copper. The removal process is understandably a nightmare, those copper hexagons stick to the nails so fast you need some ungodly power to get them off. Picture of it on my nails here.

Golden Rose, 3.10 €

 ESSENCE The Gel Nail Polish 

50 i feel good

I got this purely to do some nail art, which failed so miserably. I never owned a green nail polish, frankly it's a weird colour to wear on the nails to me (and the comments I got were hilarious). This one is a dark forest green. The formula is lovely, it's one of those gel formula ones, so it's excellent.  

Müeller, 1.69 €

 eBay Metallic Rose Gold Brushes

Blush brush and contour brush

These are beyond amazing for the price! I got then immediately after seeing them of Petra's Instagram and got only two to try, but I'm getting the whole set for sure or at least the powder one and another set of these two. These look expensive, though the handle is plastic, which is actually much better to me as I would hate to have a heavy brush to handle. The bristles are amazingly soft and these just feel well made. 

 The blush brush fits my cheeks well, some might find it a bit small, but I prefer more precise blush brushes. It's the type of brush I would use with more pigmented blushes as it's not very dense. By the way, the bristles are synthetic. 

The contour brush is dense, just the way I like it and it can work as a great foundation brush. I tried contouring with it which ended up very well. Great brush.

 Petra already wrote an awesome and comprehensive review, so I probably won't write any more than in this New In.

eBay, blusher brush (contour) £1.70, facial brush (blush) £1.66

YVES ROCHER Exfoliating Bubble for Bath 

Spicy Vanilla

Last year I won a shower gel in Yves Rocher's Christmas/December giveaway and I loved it. It was really good, so this year I decided to give their holiday collection a go. These bubbles looked the coolest and when I saw they have three version, all of which mention cinnamon in one way or another, I really wanted one. I checked all of them in the shop, the Orange-Cinnamon version, the Orange-Almond one and this one, Spicy Vanilla, and to be completely honest they all smelled the same, just like Jaffa Cakes. I'm not a fan of the latter, I mean jam with chocolate, where is this world going, but it's kind of a nice scent for Christmas I guess. The gel is thick, which I like and the exfoliating particles aren't just for show, though it's not a proper scrub. The one thing I hate about this bubble is that there is no proper "delivering system", it's just a gaping hole when you open it and it's hard to control the amount you want. Nice, but the packaging needs an update.

Yves Rocher, 5.90 €

YVES ROCHER Perfumed Bath Oil

Spicy Vanilla

This has an even more unfortunate packaging than the Bubble for Bath. It's seriously so stupid. There is a tiny hole through which the product should be delivered, but unless you shake this vigorously, nothing comes out. So you spend a better part of the shower shaking this like a moron for a few drops of the oil. The scent is more vanillary that the Exfoliating bubble, but it's still all about the Jaffa biscuits. It's light oil compared to L'Occitane's, but it emulsified to a thin foam and doesn't dry out the skin. The ingredients are cheap, main is mineral oil, then there is some maze oil plus fragrance. It's nice, but I need to figure out how to fix the packaging problem. It's also a very pretty decoration on the shelf. 

Yves Rocher, 7.5 €

MILANI Powder Blush 

01 Romantic Rose (borrowed)

This isn't mine, but I sure wish it was. These have been on my wishlist for absolutely ages and when my cousin came round enthusiastically waving the new Milani lipstick in Darling she got because of me, she also showed me this and asked me if I'd like to review it. I adore this. It's so good, like HG material. The shade is so lovely, a natural brownish-muted pink-mauve, complicated to describe but something along the lines of Catrice's I'm Nuts About You. It's very pigmented, blends nicely and looks superb on the cheeks. And the design is sooooo pretty! You shall hear a lot of gushing about it here in the future. Basically I want all of these, well the natural shades, I'm not sure I can pull off Coral Cove, it looks very intense.

Milani EU 9.16 €; Milani USA $7.99; Beauty Crowd, £7.20; Moja Drogerija, 14.41 €; Click2Chic, 10.46 €

YANKEE CANDLE Cranberry Pear

When it comes to Yankee Candle, I'm one of those that is mainly unimpressed, but constantly tempted especially at Christmas. I fell in love with this scent instantly. I won't write this poetic description of the scent, I'll just say what it actually smells like and that is wild strawberries and a bit of pine, which actually ends up smelling like picking strawberries in the forest (something I do every year and I just love that smell). I've actually never found any scent that would mimic wild berries, they smells so much nicer that garden ones and taste far better too, so I'm delighted to have found this. The scent it very intense and even unlit/melted it fills the room. But basically it doesn't smell like neither pear nor cranberry. 

Yankee Candle, 1.99 €

YANKEE CANDLE Season of Peace

This one reminds me of my late grandmother, or at least the smell of her house. It's somewhat like Soft Blanket, so a clean and warm scent. It's like a fabric softener, I'm sure my grandma had a laundry detergent or a fabric softener with this scent, so it must be something that was sold here 15 years ago, but I haven't a clue which one she used (maybe Silan. I think I saw a bottle of it in her house). 

Yankee Candle, 2.60 €

YANKEE CANDLE Shea Butter

Another gorgeous scent. Shea butter doesn't smell as nice as this, but I can smell it mixed in the scent. It's warm, creamy and clean. It like a generic body cream in the scent that everyone likes. Love this. 

Yankee Candle, 2.60 €

YANKEE CANDLE Snowflake Cookie

This is pretty much the same as their Christmas Cookie. There's loads of gourmand vanilla and this baked note. It sounds strange I know, but when you bake cookies and you just take them out of the oven, there is this smell of baked. It's kind of a classic candle that you burn when you want to make it appear like you baked something, but were too lazy to do it and you just sneakily bought them in the supermarket.

Yankee Candle, 2.60 €

L'OREAL Elnett Heat Protect Spray - Straight 

Elnett Hitze Styling Sprays 3 Tage Glatt 

A couple of weeks ago I met the lovely Petra from Adjusting Beauty blog, whom I mention a lot on my blog and we even did my first (an only) collaboration a while ago. She surprised me with a set of samples when we were saying goodbye (thanks again <3) and this was among it. This has been on my wishlist for quite a while, but I always have other products to finish, so I'm been putting off purchasing it. It's a very basic heat protectant that is light and simple, so it fits many hair types and I've been enjoying using it precisely because of that. Actually it's no different to me from the Bumble and Bumble Hairdresser's Invisible Oil Heat UV Protective Primer, which is a lot more expensive. If you're looking for something similar, but for a lot cheaper, this is it. I will buy a full size one day. It has a simple, hair care scent.   

I think it's about 7 €

AVON Advance Techniques 360 Nourishment Moroccan Argan Oil Mask

I have this prejudice that Avon't stuff isn't all that impressive when it comes to dealing with very dry hair. I always imagine they have some diluted, super liquid hair masks, but his one is thick and feels like it will do something. It wasn't bad, but it also wasn't quite enough for my hair, however, I could see it working for moderately dry hair. Full size looks like this (also a pic of shampoo)

Avon, regular price 5.70 €

AVON Advanced Techniques Supreme Oils Shampoo

This was a pleasant surprise to me. It didn't leave my hair stripped and that is a sign of a good shampoo to me. If you have dry hair, this is worth trying out. 

Avon, regular price 4.60 €

AVON Planet Spa Sleepy Serenity Pillow Mist

Petra raved about this a while ago and remember being intrigued as I love such scents. It smells very calming, they describe it as a mix of lavender and camomile, but the latter is much more dominant. From the start this is a dead ringer for the Kamagel's scent to me (camomile based ointment made by Slovene pharmaceutical company Krka), but it then switches to a more lavender based scent. Very calming and very lovely. I can't find this in the catalogue, so I don't know how much it costs or if it still exists. Petra's review here. 

EBELINE Nagellack Entferner

Nail polish remover

I got this one because of the packaging. It's one of those where you press the cotton pad at the top and it pumps the product up, soaking the cotton pad. One pump delivers pretty much the perfect amount of product for me, others might be used to more, but it can start spraying/dripping if you're too greedy for the product. It's nothing special when it comes to removing. It's not particularly strong, so I probably won't repurchase.  

DM, 1.39 €

 ESSENCE Quick and easy Sponge Nail Polish Remover

This one is more expensive than the Ebeline one I usually buy, but that one gets dirty so fast, so I'm looking for something better (Bourjois' is excellent, but too expensive. Ombia's is total crap). So far I've only used it with light nail polishes because I don't want to ruin it straight away, but it's ok. It does the job.

Interspar, 2.99 €

ESSENCE Holo Stripes Nail Stickers

I got these to do that design that is on the nail wheel next to Golden Rose 103 above. It kind of failed which isn't a surprise. Anyway, there are three thin strips in the set: a silver one, a dark silver one and violet-pink one all with a metallic look, not really holographic. My picture isn't the best, but it's hard to photograph these with a camera phone. They tend to fall off fast without a good layer of top coat. 

 Interspar, 1.39 €

YUMMY Wild Things Shower Gels

Happy Boost and Sexy Boost 

There are new Yummy shower gels called Wild Things which all feature animal prints. I got the zebra Happy Boosts and the snake Sexy Boost, but there are more: the giraffe Classy Boost, leopard Energy Boost, tiger Power Boost, and peacock Vanity Boost. These are pretty basic shower gels that smell nice. They foam well, clean well and that's it. Happy Boost will appeal to many, at least that my experience when I gave these two to people to sniff. It's a classic girly scent, but a bit more sophisticated. It's candy-vanilla sweet, but a bit floral and woody, so it's gourmand without being properly gourmand.

Sexy Boost won't be for everybody though, at least not for those who like simpler scents. It's a proper unisex scent, almost more masculine than feminine. The best way that I can describe it is if I compare it to Axe (Lynx) scents, not the super douchey Dark Temptation, but those green ones. It smells a lot more masculine in the bottle, but in the shower it's more tame. The base is citrusy, I get lime, though its described as earthy. The sharper note that gives the scent defining character is spice, cardamom in particular. I actually like this scent a bit more than the Happy Boost and I'm not a girl for unisex scents. 

Click2Chic, 4.95 €

Have a great day!