Empties

Hello,

another month has come to an end I feel like the Winter is just around the corner and the New Year with its resolutions and failed attempts to reach my goals...  It's all about spinning and catching the snake by its tail. Do you feel the same? Like the time fly by and you are not in control?
Well these products did come to its finishing line and with some we had a good run..

Avon Care glycerine and, nail & cuticle cream is my favorite hand cream and a long time ago I stopped counting through how many tubes I went through. It absorbs quickly and moisturizes my hands on a long run. This version is just the regular (unscented, usually the Spring ones are scented) in their standard packaging but I just ordered a new Winter themed packaging with the Coconut scent which is amazing.

Next is another hand cream, this one is from Essence and it is their Tropical hand mousse, It smells like fresh melons and it is fun to use because of its texture. I have to be careful and use a little bit otherwise it can get very greasy very quickly.

Avon Clearskin white clay cleanser, scrub & mask is 3 in 1 product but I think that claim is a bit of a stretch. Yes, it has some particles in there but they are not strong enough to do decent job so I only used it as a face wash or sometimes I applied thin layer all over my face. In about five minutes time it did its magic. It feels cooling so I wanted to use it as fast as possible because in the cold weather I don't like to use freezing face masks but it did work. It managed to clean my pores and refresh my face. My skin did approved so maybe next year I will repurchase it.

Bio Oil is very popular and well know brand of oil and I was very tempted to try it out. When I was looking for it the store had a special discount but only if you bought two bottles, if you know me then you know I purchase a pair without trying it first. The first thing is the gorgeous scent, I could lather my entire body with it and sleep like a baby. It is comforting, the texture is oily even though I have read that is light and absorbs fast. On my face it was moisturizing but nothing too revolutionary. I will use up the other bottle but I'm not so sure I would repurchase it again. Maybe now when I'm not using it I will see if my skin will get worst but I somehow doubt it.

The very last item on the photo is old Trend it up volumizing hair powder. This berry scent is intoxicating and they should make more products with it. When I picked this one up I really though that this is a dry shampoo in a can but it is not. It does nothing for greasy hair instead it makes them extra sticky. So very sticky that it hurts. I'm used to shampoo my hair twice and if I did it in a hurry with this icky powder on the next day my hair would still be sticky. It is so hard to wash away and so not worth it for me that I rarely use it and now I just decided to toss it. Volumizing powders just aren't for me.

This time around I went through The Body Shop body butter, and it is Cocoa butter. I seriously thought that I will use more of their stuff since there is a shop near my workplace. I went in a couple of times and bough a lot of their butters, lotions and other miscellaneous stuff but apparently I'm saving them for some sort of special occasions... I really enjoyed this one, it is a bit thicker but I don't mind some extra massage and the scent was amazing. Definitely my cup of tea.

Holika Holika Clearing BB cream with the SPF of 30. I used to really like this one, it was a but dark bit mixing lighter one in made it perfect. It has quite a nice coverage and I used to wear it everyday until I found L'oreal foundation which completely replaced BB creams in my routine. I still used this one on my days off and on my neck to help everything blend together. I don't think it is still available and even if it would be I am past BB creams and now I'm just trying to use all of them up.

 Maybeline 24hr Color Tatoo in the shade Creme de Rose was an impulse purchase. I already had the super famous On and On Bronze which was very bold against my pale complexion and I didn't like how it looked but it also creased within thirty or forty minutes even with a primer underneath. People were raving about the formula but for me it just wasn't working but when I got my hands on some coupons I bought two more. Creme de Rose was one of them and I'm very happy that I did buy it. This baby last on my lids all day even without a primer. The shade looks a bit mauve toned in the pot but when I blend it out it sort of melt with my skin tone. It covers the veins and makes my lids all nice and even, often I used it alone because I liked the 'bare' look. I tried to find it in the store but the biggest drugstore doesn't even carry them so I was scared that they might stop selling them but I found them in some other more obscure stores but this shade was ether sold out or already swatched so at the moment I don't have it. I think I will buy it again but in the mean time I will focus a bit more on the brown Creamy Beige which I bought at the same time.

Next is a little Avon sample in the shade Amethyst Sunset. It is so old that I don't even remember the name of the line it belonged but it was the sparkling one. If you look close you can see multicolored shimmer in there but it is very small and it didn't bother me that much, the glitter didn't travel all around my lips. On the photo it looks a bit too brown, in real life it was more mauve-purple and since the formula was glossy and shiny I could do a very light and sheer coat. It just slightly deepen my lips and add some much needed shine. I really liked it and if it would be available I would buy myself a full size immediately.

The very last item is this super old Essence 50's Girls Reloaded LE I'm a Marine Girl eye pencil (it was released seven years ago, I checked). It got a bit dry and since I have some other blue pencils which aren't as old I decided to part with it. Using something so old around my eyes really isn't something to be considered safe. I hold on for so long because of the beautiful shade. It looks dark but when the light hits it you can see the royal blue reflection.



Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Upside Brown

Hello,

a while ago I received this eye shadow palette and I was pretty excited because Bourjois products aren't the cheapest and they are sister brand of Chanel. I heard people comparing the two brands and come to the conclusion that both lines carry similar products so you can imagine how high I felt.

The packaging on this Smoky Stories eye shadow quad feels a bit cheap and they also gives you one of the double ended sponge tip applicators (some like L.O.V. ones feel really nice and are usable this one however was a bit flimsy and I didn't use it).
Mine quad is called Upside Brown, overall brown and beige tones look natural and ready for a quick everyday use.

This middle shade was impossible to take photos of so here it looks like it is white but wait to see the swatches.

The texture is soft and they don't kick a lot of powder, pigmentation is average and I think that the shadows are very easy to work with.

The middle star shade is a champagne gold and it sparkles like a diamond. The white base doesn't translate on the skin and I think that this shade is pretty on its own or applied on top of something else. 

The left shade in the pan is a warmer light brown. Nice, it is quite unique in my collection and against my blue eyes it creates nice contrast. 

The last two shades look very similar on the skin. First one is a bit lighter and cooler than the other one but when you blend them on the lid the difference is minimal and I don't think that it matters which one I used. 

Even though I was excited to receive it and play with it and I liked the first two shades the overall feel of it is that it is not that special and I have a lot of other shades that I like better. I have used it a couple of times and then I passed it down to my sister who doesn't have so much make-up and she is using it way more than I would.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Ohh La La & Glossaholic

Hello,

Rimmel is one of those brands that fly very low on my radar. I was excited when they came into our drugstores but I seem to always walk past their shelves and even when I pause I rarely buy anything. These glosses were given to me, I checked them out in the store before but I always left them alone.

So, they are Rimmel Oh my gloss! in Ohh La La and Glossaholic shades.
The packaging is interesting because of the twisted tube which is the same as it is with their oils.

They have a rather above the average long doe foot applicator but they are easy to use and I can easily get enough product out of the tube and evenly disperse it all over my lips.
They have a very slight plastic-y scent which I can detect when I get the product out but when it is on the lips it is gone. That scent is the reason why I never picked them out. In the store I always open lip product samples and sniff them when in reality I just apply them on the lips and if the scent isn't strong I am not bothered.

The Ohh La La shade looks bright red in the tube but on the lips it is rather hot pink and it is even more obvious after the shine is gone and my lips are left with a really nice and even pink stain.

The Glossaholic is a different bird. In the tube it looks like a soft pink but on the lips it is almost clear. If I apply a bit more or after reapplying it the color shows up but in a very nice non invasive way (no sinking into the fine lines, if you get it out of the lip line it is not obvious...), what I'm trying to say is that it is very easy to wear and it goes well with everything even with a wedding gown. Recently my sister got married and on her big day she forgot her lip gloss at home and I had this baby with me so I gave it to her and she loved it so much that I decided to just let her have it. In person it looked lovely and even on photos it looks naturally shiny and so very beautiful and natural.

The red/pink color will take me some time to go through but I'm definitely buying the Glossaholic for myself as well. You just can beat soft, natural glossy lip that feel comfortable and stays hydrated (seriously my and her lips were soft through the entire night). Next time when I will be in the store I will definitely check the other shades as well but I'm pretty sure we don't have all 11 shades available.



Thank you for reading and have a nice day

All I Need and Mojave

Hello,

this post is long overdue because in the mean time they already discontinued one of the shadows but since I found a really close dupe I think it is still relevant to show them both.

They both have pretty recognizable packaging but still: Essence my must haves eye shadow in the shade All I Need (discontinued) and H&M Beauty single in Mojave (as far as I know it is still available).

I bough the Essence one first and then the one from H&M and I didn't though that they will be so close. I just liked the color and I thought that it will look pretty. I used Mojave for a week or two until it hit me that it might look similar to something I already have...

They are so darn close that I'm seriously thinking of passing one along but which one?
First swatch is Essence All I Need and second is Mojave from H&M.

All I Need is a bit lighter and shinier while Mojave has a bit more brown base so it looks more pigmented and more noticeable.

They both are so great as all over the lid shades because of the sheen which makes them look more dimensional. Whenever I use them it looks like I have used at least three different shades while in fact there is only one. I personally love this finish and such taupe-y browns that are so easy to use but they look like I have spent way more time doing my make-up.

Would you give one of them away or would you selfishly keep both? I think I will keep All I Need (regardless of the name) and Mojave for myself  ;)



Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Empties

Hello,

up till today I finished quite a lot of products or at least decided to part with them. Now I am starting to feel ready for Autumn especially because my skin is getting more and more dry and I'm falling back in love with heavier, cozier scents.

Afrodita's Great Burdock hair oil. I love this thing. You apply it onto desired area and voila hair will start growing after three or four uses. I use it on my brows, lashes (I am careful that I don't get it in my eye) and  scalp. I even got my mom and sister hoked up on it, if you can get it I would highly recommend it to everyone.

Avon makes this FullSpeed men cologne that is fresh and orange-y at the same time. A couple of years ago I was really into men scents and would buy a lot of them for myself but I outgrew that faze and prefer more feminine scents now. I still like it but mostly I used it in my car as a car spray.

I bought this Victoria's Secret hydrating body lotion in Love Spell scent right after they started to sell their products here in Slovenia but I never got used to the sweet, gummy bear scent. Just recently I picked it up again and while I'm still not super into the scent I found combo that I liked. I would moisturize with cacao butter and apply this on top. That scent combo is delight and was very comforting and calming. If I would have issues with sleeping this would solve them right away.

Colab makes nice dry shampoos in my opinion. No white residue, no stickiness but I have to use a little more than usual to get the job done. When I used up the first bottle (this is the second on of this scent) I thought that I found my kind of dry shampoo but I since discovered more brands that I like better. They are cheaper and with less product I get the same result. I love the Unicorn scent but I won't be picking it again.

Balea makes a lot of LE scents and this one was one of them. Cheers to Life is a slightly creamy body wash and it is described to have vanilla and citrus scent bu to me it smells more like a pomegranate fruit and I loved it so very much that I would buy it a hundred times more if I could.

Avon Advance Technique micellar technology color correcting shampoo without sulfates. It was something new and I was eager to try it even though I don't dye my hair nor I have any prejudice against sulfates. It didn't foam so I ended up using a lot more than usually and I also noticed that if I put some oil in my hair before washing this shampoo wasn't able to get it out so the products were just building it up and my hair didn't look nice or clean. I'm so happy that I'm done with it and I will never ever buy it again.

Another tube of my beloved L'oreal Infallible 24-h matte foundation in the shade 11 Vanilla is gone. I love the tone (it is a bit too dark for me but a lightening drops saves the day), high coverage and matte look so much that I only buy this foundation. I'm already using my next tube and I am already on a lookout for some sales to stock up.

Next I have two liquid lip powders from Catrice that I bought at the beginning of this year but I never got around to review them here. The main reason being that I don't like them. Metal matt liquid lip powder in Frame of Roses looks lovely and the ultra matt liquid lip powder in Will you Berry Me? looks very uneven on the lips and accentuates the dry areas. The Frame of Roses is able to cover the dry patches better because of the shimmer but I hate the dry feeling on my lips. That has got nothing to do with the actual product but with my personal preference. I am simply more of a lip gloss kind of gal and matte liquid lipsticks just don't float my boat.

The very last item is just a sample but the shade is too good not to include it here. It is Avon Caressing Coral lipstick from years and years ago. I am tossing it away because it has definitely went bad but the shade had me. I had a couple samples of the same color and this one is the very last one. I loved wearing it especially on the days when I wasn't feeling the best because this bright number always cheered me up and make me look more awake and presentable. I would happily buy myself a lipstick in this shade if I could find it, any suggestions?


Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Like Jackie O

Hello,

this mascara is no longer new but at least it is still available  ;)
It was introduced in August and I was lucky enough to receive it as a gift from Catrice PR team.

Catrice the little black one volume waterproof mascara in the shade Like Jackie O which is black.
I like the blue details which makes it stand out and the scrunched plastic so it looks like leather is a nice touch but what is inside is way more important.

The brush is rubbery, just the way I like it and has two different bristles. On one side they are shorter and thicker while on the other side are longer and slimmer.

The brush really is small, this is not an optical illusion. It really is sized as a 10 cent coin.
The formula is definitely on the wet side and before I figure it out I messed my lashes numerous times but I learned that if I wipe most of the product off it creates long and brushed through lashes which you can see below.

Here I'm wearing it on its own (top and bottom, skinny wand is great for bottom lashes) and it is the look that I like. Of course you can make them look thicker and more clumpy which isn't hard to do because of the wet formula and wider opening so the brush carries a lot of product but that is not 'my look'. Now I wish I would take some photos of when I screw it up but I was always in a hurry to fix it (remove my eye look completely and start all over again).
I still decided to wear it for my sisters wedding and it turned out great, I took some extra time to apply thin layer and it survived through waterfall, rain and allergies.
I like it and still use it in combination with something else or on its own but I like the lashes to kill mascara better.



Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Welcome to the Universe

Hello,

it seems like everybody is ready for fall and prepared matte murky lipsticks which are all aligned along the changing leaves colored eye shadows but honesty I'm still not ready for it.
To rebel against described color scheme I picked one of the newer nail varnishes which stands out like a cucumber among apples.

It is Essence Cosmic Lights nail polish in the cool silver shade Welcome to the Universe.

It has foil finish with tons of holographic glitter particles which shine in numerous colors, hence the holo. They are large and make the finish rough and not so smooth as the regular foils do.

It applied really nicely with two coats and dried super fast. I had to operate faster than usually so I think it is especially convenient when you are in a hurry.

Maybe you can see the bumpy surface better here. The multicolored glitter only shows up on a direct sunlight or under strong fluorescent lights otherwise it looks bubbly.

I was a bit disappointed but I'm sure there are people who are looking for something just like that. Maybe it is also the shade that I received from PR team. At the beginning of the year I received this beauty. They are very similar minus the glitter and I decided that I like the Catrice one better so this Essence nail varnish will find another home but I will check out the blue one. It seems like it is the darkest out of the bunch and I would like it much better. The bumpy/bubbly surface wouldn't even bother me with such beautiful base. I will report back if I will end up buying it.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day