Project Polish

Hello,

lately I have been drawn to the lovely plums and golds on my nails and so I have rediscovered some old favorites and also some gone bad formulas...

Lets first start with the lovely Avon Night Violet. It is rich brown toned plum with tiny golden shift, very rich looking and still very liquid (that seems to be the case with Avon nail polishes) but unfortunately it doesn't dry properly anymore. I have used up almost half of the bottle and we had a good run.

Tiny 5 ml bottle of Depend Sand Beige bottle is all used up. I remember winning this cutie in a giveaway and for the first year I only treasure it until I discovered how awesome it looked on the bright sunlight. This was from their holographic collection and it was quite intense warm gold polish, no wonder I completely finished it up.

This next bottle belong to old LE from Catrice and it is named Doris' Darling. It is very dark plum with simple cream finish. I initially bought it to use it as a base for shimmers but I was surprised at how much I liked it on its own. When I wanted to spice things up I just added some golden glitter/shimmer and I was ready for a party.

Peel off Catrice When in doubt, just wear glitter was fun when it lasted. I received it last year and since then it become quite goopey and it doesn't dry anymore. I'm aware that the texture is a bit gummy because of its peel off claim but after one year it has become unusable so I'm throwing it away.

The very last one is the one I was hunting down. I saw it on promo photos and I just had to have it. Essence True Love is dark plum with intense pink shimmer which makes it appear lighter and bolder on the nails than in the bottle. I remember how excited I was when I finally got my hands on it but after first application my love faded. There was nothing wrong with the polish itself I just realized that the color on me just wasn't so special or thrilling. As you can see I did used it but now it is all thick and goopey so it will be joined with the rest of them in the trash.

These five bottles makes my collection smaller for 14 bottles this year alone (I did add 9 new ones in so my collection so far only went down for 5 but still, I added less so I still count it as a success). I am still on a roll with this project use it up and soon there will be more.



Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Dreams are calling

Hello,

I'm a bit late but this Essence collection can still be found in the stores (just today I was checking the bronzers but they are super large and slightly too orange toned for me).

I was lucky enough to receive this PR gift from Sun. Sand. & Golden Rainbows Essence collection. It is one of the two baked multi colour highlighters in the shade Dreams are calling (the more pink version of the two).

I really like the 'striped' look so if you want only one color you can dip only in one section and this way you get plenty of different color options.

The shades are all blinding, on the skin they look almost like cream products (Essence can really do their highlighters, I'm rarely disappointed in them).

The last swatch is a mix of all three shades together and it creates this lovely rose toned shade which I can wear as a blush (I'm too pale for it to be worn as a highlighter). I like to use the first shade on its own or I mix the first and the second a bit warmer one together to create this intense highlighter on my cheeks.
As I mentioned I like how many color combinations you get within one product and also that this doesn't work just as a highlighter but doubles as a glowing blush or I even use it on my eyes for intense bling.

Thank you Essence for sending this beautiful product my way.



Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Empties

Hello,

it is quite late so I will try to make it short and sweet this time. I know that I like to talk about my used up products because when you empty something you really truly get a feel for a product and the opinion is really valid but still sometimes I notice that I change my mind after a second bottle or tube, I guess we are all different and sometimes an item feels nice and in some other season it just doesn't.

It is not a secret that I love anything with a Peony or Rose scent so these products really should not strike you as a surprise. This Le Petit Marseiliais Raspberry and Peony body wash is my second tube of it and even though I don't really care for body washes (I would get something cheap for washing my body and rather splurge on moisturizer) but I just can't resist this gorgeous scent. If I will find it on sale I would get it again.

Next are the Avon naturals Raspberry and Hibiscus conditioner and shampoo duo. I have used up countless bottles of this shampoo but I think this is my second or third bottle of the matching conditioner. I remember that the last time I used them up I didn't see any big difference so I wasn't so sure if I would repurchase it again but I'm happy that I did. My hair are a bit dry at the moment and this combination makes them soft, silky and so smooth plus the scent is to die for. I already have another bottle of this shampoo in my shower but I'm using different conditioner (I'm going through my stash and once I will use everything up I'm getting it again).

There is nothing wrong with these lip liners from Avon but I realized that I don't use them and that I don't want to use them. They are Avon ultra glimmerstick lip liners in Mystery Mauve, Simply Spice and Coral Desire. They are very pigmented but I don't like sharply lined lips on myself, the colors are muted and bold and that is another thing I don't like. I prefer soft lips, no harsh edges, painted in light colors so I get more of a natural look. I had them for quite a long time so I think now it is about time to get them out of my way. 

The very last item is limited edition item from last year. Essence glow like you're on your dream date multi-use liquid highlighter, I mostly mixed it in with my Catrice foundation otherwise it would take me forever to finish it up. I liked that it wasn't too yellow, so the color looked natural and I could adjust the effect. More subtle glow on 'normal' days but when I wanted to amp it up I added a second layer on top of my cheekbones for that extra attention. It was a nice product but I think I will avoid cream cheek products in the future. I find powders to be easier to work with plus they don't expire so fast as cream products do.

Swatches of all Avon lip liners that I own (besides the clear one which I'm using daily and I love). First is Mystery Mauve, second is Simply Spice and third is Coral Desire. They are all very pigmented and muted in tone. These colors are nice but I just don't feel comfortable wearing them. My lips looked very matte after application and if I put creamy lipstick on top it will soon look full on matte, these liners just suck the moisture out of products and my lips. If you don't mind dry lips, like matte look and are looking for something long lasting then these are definitely for you.
They were nice for playing around and testing the trend but since it doesn't suit me I don't think I will buy and colored lip liners again.



Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Soul Searcher - Namaste all Day

Hello,

Catrice came out with these cute 6 pan palettes in nice color combinations (in my opinion). I was lucky enough to receive one of them (judging from promo photos this one looked the most appealing to me).

It is Catrice Soul Searcher eye shadow palette with the name Namaste all Day (I really don't know why they put the 'name' on top of the palette for everyone to see and refer but if you flip it over at the back there is another different name.

The packaging on my palette is a bit flimsy because it doesn't click so if I would like to take it with me on the go it could open in my purse so I went to the store and tried others and they close shut so mine is apparently a dud (I purchased another color option that I like even better). If you go shopping for these I would suggest to try open and close it, just to be on the safe side.

The colors seems nicely pigmented when I applied them with my finger (with brush application I had some 'issues' with the blue one but a couple of layers and it was good).
The first top gold has more of a sateen finish and it is barely noticeable so I mostly use it as a base (I would prefer more intense color so I could use it as an inner corner highlighter).
Next to it is another gold which has a bit more yellow in it but the finish is stunning (the photo doesn't do any justice), it looks like a proper cream shadow and this finish is present in the other two shades as well.
Third and the last in the top row is warm copper with plenty orange in it.
First in the second row is similar but a bit cooler, not cool toned just more neutral compared to the previous.
Second to last is much darker and neutral looking with almost the same finish, shiny but  bit more subdued.
The very last color is the stand out shade. It looks very vibrant but unfortunately on my swatch it doesn't look like, I swear it can look very bright with some layering. I had quite some fun using it but at the end I just couldn't prepare myself to go out wearing it. I'm still not comfortable wearing bold colors on my eyes.

As mentioned this palette looked the most neutral of them all but after testing it out it slightly disappointed me. I think that the formula is really nice, I had zero issues (the blue color needed some layering but that was all), the colors stayed vibrant all day, they didn't crease and aren't powdery, the finish is phenomenal but I think that the color selection is a bit poor. The first two shades look very similar (the first one is a bit lighter and the sheen is less obvious but otherwise kind of the same), third and  fourth shade also look too similar for one small palette, there are slight differences in tones but on such a small area as eye lid I couldn't tell them apart. Instead of six tones you get four really different shadows.
I guess if you really like these colors go for it, the formula will not disappoint you. I bought the mauve one named Future Female and the formula seems the same and I can actually differentiate all the colors. I like the remaining palettes as well but I already have too many shadows, maybe towards the end of the year I will pick all of them...  :)




Thank you for reading and have a nice day

HD Active

Hello,

finally we are having some proper Summer weather and all I can think of is my vacation (I haven't booked anything jet but it is nice to dream about beaches and sea, right?).
I started to use primer with high SPF again because the first time I used it it wasn't very warm and I wanted to see how it will perform under the hot sun.

It is Catrice HD activate performance primer with SPF 30.
It claims to be water & sweat proof and have pore minimizing effect. I like the little glass bottle with a pipette, it is convenient and easy to use but not so practical for traveling due the heavy glass.

Before every use you have to shake it well because it starts to separate, it is very liquid (as you can see on the photo) and very white. It does leave a bit of a white cast.

A little bit goes a long way so even though it only holds 15 ml it will last me a long time if I would only use it on my face.

The skin stays sticky even after I left it on the skin for a couple of minutes (it feels like any other cream with an SPF). The pore minimizing effect is there but the first claim? Water and sweat proof? Not for me unfortunately, I have very oily skin (especially in this hot weather). I used it under the matching Catrice HD liquid coverage foundation (the same packaging so they should work well together), at first it looked nice. My skin remained slightly sticky even after generous amount of powder, hair were sticking all over my face and neck. After two hours my face started to melt, the foundation was breaking especially around my mouth and chin area (there is where my skin moves around the most and if it breaks it breaks there), the forehead and cheeks were extra oily but still okay but my jaw line looked horrible. I used it on my off days when I just did some errands but mostly I stayed inside in my apartment so no one needed to see me. I would be too embarrassed to walk around.
All in all I did not like it at all. To be fair pretty much all of the creams with an SPF do that to my make-up so this one is nothing special but there is one positive feedback I can give and that is that it did not made me break out. I haven't noticed any pimples during my wear time and that is impressive. That being said I will use it on my chest and arms so probably it will soon appear in my empties but I would buy it again.




Thank you for reading and have a nice day