Empties

Hello,

it is empties time and this time I have just a few products but most of them are repurchases and some of my favorites that I would gladly buy again.

First tube is limited edition Balea's hand cram with Pitaya and Coconut. It smelled like a fruity beach product. I kept it at work and everyone said it is very beach-y scent so everyone was borrowing it and helped me use it up. The scent really was phenomenal but the texture could get a bit too greasy if I used a bit too much.

Next is Avon's restoring moisture coconut hand cream in one of my favorite formulas (I think the original in the non scented version is no longer available :(. This had lovely barely there, natural scented coconut scent. No plastic or fake notes but rather creamy and comfy plus the formula is the best. I am using a new scent at the moment (banana) but I already have a backup of the coconut.

This one is a staple in my morning routine since I use it every morning for years now and I'm already using the new tube. It is Neutrogena face moisturizer. Very light but moisturizing, keeps my skin matte for longer and works lovely under any foundation.

I went through four or five tubes of Skin 79 V.I.P. BB cream but to change thing up I ordered this Skin 79 Oriental gold BB cream plus a while ago (now it seem like it is no longer available). The color is very close to my skin (it also adapts after 5 or 10 min), it glides over and covers quite decently and has an SPF of 30 (I still used sun lotion underneath) but it was great on my vacation. If I could get my hands on it I would buy it again but I guess I'm back to my 'normal' hot pink or V.I.P. or maybe I will try the snail one. I still have one tube of Pink one so I'm good for a while but soon I will order something new.

 The very last item on the photo is this The Body Shop tea tree pore minimizer. It has sort of a pudding texture, more compact than a gel but not to thick. It has this typical tea tree scent that is so comforting for me (not so much for my pimples ;). This is the second farewell and I already have two more backups since TBS has decided to discontinue it... (insert sad face).

Lets not forget about our bodies who need extra moisture in this degrees dropping weather. I decided to use this Avon's Planet SPA fantastically firming with Colombian Coffee extract body cream. I expected to be very heavy on the coffee but I was wrong. I can't even detect coffee in it but to me it smells more like latte. Warm and comfortable cup of hot milk, it is such a lovely scent that even helped me sleep. I'm not mad that the scent didn't meet with my expectations but it even surpassed them. I would grabbed it in a heartbeat if it would still be available.




Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Shopping

Hello,

this past week I have been splurging. I purchased way more than I 'need' and when I came home and spread everything out I started to regret it. I have been really good this year and bought only a few items sprinkled through the entire year and now I caved in and bought too much. The store had a sale and I fell hard for it but at least I'm trying to comfort myself that some of the items are my staples or the ones that I already tried turned out to be really nice, so far there are no duds...

First is my beloved Catrice HD liquid coverage foundation in Light beige. Next is Essence camouflage matt liquid concealer in Light rose, I wanted to get the healthy glow one but since they didn't have it I decided to try this version. I haven't try it yet but since I use liquid concealer under my eyes... we will see. Next is a repurchased Essence all about matte powder that I loved back in the days but ever since I tried the Catrice all matt powder I stopped buying the Essence one. I wanted to try it out again to see, if it still works for me. The last powder is something new to me and I guess I was just curious and it is Essence mattifying compact powder.

I wanted to get a good lip stain for quite a while now and I will see if this one will get me where I want to and it is L'oreal I rule lip stain. This conditioning lip product is very talked about in the community and it seem like everyone is raving about it so I had to have it. I grabbed one of the Catrice dewy-full lips lip butter in the nude shade Be you! Dew you!. While I was at the Catrice stand I couldn't pass another shade from Catrice generation plump & shine gloss. I already have Nude Sapphire which is gorgeous but I wanted this one ever since I saw this beautiful coral number named Sparkling Coral. I don't own much from the brand She and I decided to change that by purchasing the Nude lip gloss in the shade 127. These Essence plumping nudes glosses in Big softie and XXL charm were also on my list for a long time and now I have them, I hope they won't disappoint me. The very last item is a lip balm and I got hooked when I saw it is a tube styled balm, I like anything glossy and this one is Blistex Cherry lip cream.

Here are some 'much needed' eye shadows (I really don't know jet where I will store them because I have so many). The first is Catrice The fresh nudes palette I love neutrals and that bright coral in the middle was what caught my eye. L'oreal  came out with these singles just recently and this one looked extra shiny and glossy so I had to bring it with me. Mine is in the shade Almighty. The last one is Essence Morning Glory eye shadow and I had no idea it looked so similar to the L'oreal one (I really was in the zone, just throwing items in my basked not really knowing what I was doing). It is pretty for sure but I will make sure I will swatch them side by side because I have a feeling that I won't need both.



Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Perfect Plan

Hello,

with the most recent Essence change I received this lovely new lipstick. I had high hopes for it but let see if my wishes were heard...

It is Essence perfect shine lipstick with the name Perfect Plan. It is housed in a lovely pink metallic packaging.

Perfect Plan shade is brown with rose hue. I personally don't love brown on my lips but thankfully this one is pink enough to stay away from that uncomfortable brown tone, at least for me.

Here is a not so good swatch but it represents the tone well even though it is a bit deeper.

This is fresh on my lips (yep, my lips were dry and chapped which I noticed after I took the photos). It is very pigmented (two coats will do) and very creamy. The shine is there but honestly I expected them to be more sheer and glossier, still I gave it a fair share.

After two hours this is how it looked on my lips. My lips were less dry (I didn't use any lip balm in the mean time) and I did drink a bit but there is no visible line or unevenness. It faded away pretty nicely and after that photo I applied one layer and I was good to go. After reapplying the shine was a bit less seen as the pigment started to build up and it looked a bit more matte than the fresh layer.

Even though this lipstick didn't turn out the way I expected I wasn't disappointed. The wear time is very good even with drinking involved but more so, I like how even it wears off. The shade is nice but not completely in my comfort zone. I will check shades Perfect Day (coral) and Perfect Romance (red nuance). I also like to wear it more like a stain, dab on the lips and slightly pat with my fingertip to remove the excess and press it into the lips so it stays put for longer. Very nice formula indeed, I hope that they will come out with some pink shades in the next turnover, I'm really cheering for it.



Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Empties

Hello,

I'm speeding through my products and trying my best not to buy more if I already have products of the same kind (I'm doing pretty well but there will be some upcoming sales that will be really hard for me to keep out). I will try my best.

Another bottle of this Alkmene tea tree face wash is gone. I like the products but not the slightly flimsy packaging. At the moment I'm using my other favorite (Himalaya neem foaming face wash) and after I'm done with that I'm going back to this one. I like to interchange them for a bit of variety.

Weleda Rose lip balm is a balm I purchased last year and I started to use it just recently. I had issues with separation. Usually the oil would come out and only then the pigment (is it old or just separated?), I tried to mix it by placing it in different positions and squeezing it around the tube but nothing helped. The scant was also a bit off, I have noticed in some other natural brands that their lip products also had similar scent (a bit of rose and rubber, at least that is how it smelled to my nose). The color is a soft rose/nude and a tad too light for me. Nothing about this balm excited  me so I decided to throw it away even though I haven't use it up.

Next to it is Catrice volumizing Beauty-full lips lip balm which is another one I haven't had much luck with. There are different versions/colors out there but I picked up the original one. It is a bit too light for me but if I'm careful and apply little it is okay. It is slightly cooling and minty (I haven't noticed any volumizing properties) but it fades away way too quickly. It is also not very moisturizing and my lips were soon dry and patchy. This is another lip balm that I haven't used up but I rather gave up on it completely. There are plenty of good lip balms that will nourish my dry lips.

Catrice Ultimate shine gel color in Don't pink and drive lipstick is super old but I have been holding on to it because of its amazing formula. I tried to use it up but I had no luck. This shade is bright pink and even though this line of lipsticks was creamier and glossier it still had plenty of pigment and it was harder to wear. It lasted for around three hours with minimal fading but on most days I just didn't feel like wearing hot pink so it was left in the dark. Now I finally pulled it out when I noticed little black dots all over the stick... I'm parting with it.

Second to last is Catrice instant blurring stick from Active warrior collection and it was a convenient little primer. Waxy and full of silicone to seal my pores, it actually worked with my skin nicely but since it was so small it didn't took me too long to go through it. I have something similar from Deborah in a tube and that is what I have been using and it works nicely.

The very last item is another Catrice product (I'm really on a roll) and it is all matt Transparent shine control face powder (my third I think). No need for long discussion here. It was a nice powder that kept me matte and looked nice when I reapplied once or twice through the day. It is still my favorite even though I'm testing out the Rimmel one.




Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Miracle Stone

Hello,

I still have some nail polishes that I haven't tried out yet and my goal for this year is to at least use all of them at least once.

Essence the gel nail polish in Miracle Stone. This was another snatch right before they discontinued this line and replace it with different bottle design. 

It is supposed to be matte but I would say it is semi matte. I love the little sparkle and when I add the shiny top coat is shines even more.

The sparkles aren't really white or silver but duochrome pink and gold. It is unusual but lovely at the same time. I really enjoyed wearing it and I can't wait for the next time to put it on. With the amount of the bottles that I have it will take a while  ;)

Removing it was easy and I haven't experience any chips. Essence can really make good nail polishes for really cheap.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Natural Beauty

Hello,

this lipstick is an oldie but so good. It is already discontinued and now they have different collections but this is still so good. A lovely mix of pigment and creaminess.

Essence long lasting lipstick in the shade Natural Beauty. I liked this simple packaging with the colorful ring to set them apart, at the moment this is the only one that I have so it doesn't have a purpose but I like it.

I can't go wrong with a soft pink with a neutral undertone and this one is awesome for me. It is nicely pigmented, two layers and I'm good. It is not matte but slightly shiny as you can see on the photo below. I usually don't like full on matte shades so having a bit of sheen is great.

It is very comfortable to wear and lasts for quite a while. When it starts wearing off it is even so even if I don't reapply immediately it looks okay.
I was browsing through the rest of the shades while they were still available but nothing else stand out to me like this lovely pink did. Unfortunately it is no longer available but they have plenty of others that are also very nice (velvet matte is more dull, perfect shine is shinier) all very good but slightly different. When mine will be finished I feel Essence will bring something similar back, fingers crossed  ;)




Thank you for reading and have a nice day