Empties

Hello,

this is the last empties post for this year. Some more empties to throw away, clean my space and await the new year with less items ( I haven't rushed to the store and buy more because I already have similar products in my possession to replace these).

The first on the top is Avon anew clinical anti wrinkle crow's feet corrector with A-F 33 (this is supposed to be unique Avon ingredient to help fight aging). I noticed that if  used it closer to my eyes it would irritate them (I would apply it in the evening and by the morning my eyes would be red and itchy) so it is important to read and follow the instructions and apply it only on crow's feet and just leave it there. I still would often find it to be irritating so at the end I used it on my neck only.

In the glass bottle is Ombia cosmetics Hyaluron gel which I don't think it is available at he moment (they only bring it out a couple of times a year). This is my second bottle and if I will find it soon I will grab another one otherwise I will get something else. Hyaluron is supposed to bind with moisture and you should apply something moisturizing on top to lock it and keep it in the skin. I haven't noticed any big difference but is was nice to use under oils, which are a constant in my skin regiment, so I got used to it.

The next bottle is kind of hard to see what it so you will have to believe me that it is Afrodita cosmetics Great Burdock hair oil. This is a miracle oil that helps my hair grow faster. I suggest it to everyone I cross paths. I use it on my brows and scalp and after two to three applications I can already see some baby hair. I'm telling you, this is fantastic and I already have a new bottle ready.

The last item is another oil but it is for different purpose. It is Terra Naturi Wildrose body oil. I used it on its own or on top of body butters or lotions if I had a feeling if they didn't provide enough moisture on its own. The scent was a typical rose and to my nose very pleasant. I already have another rose oil from a different brand so I'm covered.

Another year has come to an end, thank you for following my ramblings and I wish you a happy new year.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Electric Blue

Hello,

lovely blue shade that has the power to pull me out whenever I feel a bit blue...

Essence the gel nail polish in Electric Blue (you would expect a bright, royal blue with that name but actually it is light close to pastel but it is still somewhat bright).
Mine is in the old packaging and as far as I know this shade isn't available in the 'new' design but all in all the shade isn't that special that you can't find it with different brands.

It is not that unique but it does make me happy when I wear it. To me it is that bright periwinkle shade that is one of my favorite blue shades ever to wear on my nails. I love to wear it in the hot Summer or cold Winter, no matter the temperature I will rock it and wear it with joy.


Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Rice oil

Hello,

cold days are here and taking care of the exposed skin is a must. I'm into a big lip balm search and one of the balms I present today:

Essence my beauty ritual nourishing balm with Rice oil (there is also pink Cherry blossom and the one with Ginkgo extract which is slightly green).

It is clear and leaves my lips with slight shine. There is no scent or taste but sometimes (especially after reapplying/building up the product) there can be that bitter taste in my mouth (often lip products with SPF do this even though this one doesn't state that it has some protection).
To me this balm is very average. If my lips are dry it won't do much but if I constantly reapply they don't get chapped but that weird taste appears... I feel like I just can't win with it. It definitely isn't the best or the worst that I had but I also won't be buying other scents to try it out.
This balm was kindly sent to me by their PR team and I'm very grateful for receiving it because I was very interested in them when they came out but unfortunately it didn't wow me.


Thank you for reading and have a nice day

contour/bronzer duo

Hello,

I'm back with another cheek product but this time it is a bronzer/contour duo. I think the point of this duo is to use the lighter shade around the contour (it should match your skin tone) and the darker one to apply at the hollows of your cheek bones but if you don't exactly match, then you have to get creative ;)

Essence contouring duo palette in the lighter skin version (there is one darker shade available).

At the first glance the darker contour shade looks a bit too warm for contouring and on the swatches I think you can see it so I use it as a bronzer and it is amazing for that.

The lighter shade matches my arm pretty well but on my face it is a tad too dark so I use it on my cheeks to lightly define my cheeks and then I go over it with the 'contour' shade which works beautifully as a bronzer. Layering the two shades makes the transition even more seamless  and more natural looking. The darker shade is pigmented but due to its lightness it is very nice for my fair complexion, it is hard to over do it and I love cheek products that are light because they are more manageable for me to use.

I am absolutely loving this duo and I feel comfortable applying it even in the poor light because the chances to get it wrong aren't very high. I know this sounds a bit weird but that is just how I like to roll with my make-up. I prefer fool prof items that help you make your make-up look as natural as possible while still let you define your favorite features and I think this baby does just that.
This product has been sent to me by lovely Essence PR team and I just can't thank them enough. This bronzer duo (at least for me it acts as a bronzer) skyrocketed to my top five bronzers and I hope they won't discontinue it soon.



Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Classic Aura

Hello,

a couple of days ago I talked about one blush that scared me with its berry tone and I said that I don't like it in my blushes so I found out another blush in my collection that has berry tone to it that I completely forgot about it.

It is Avon Classic Aura blush in their typical square packaging (if you are like me and have some of their eye shadow palettes, sometimes it is hard to tell them apart).

Next to the blush you get this useless plastic-y brush but on the positive side they give you nice mirror inside.

The blush is pink with obvious berry tone, it did make my knees shake a bit when I saw it.

The color is nice but unfortunately not for my skin. It is quite bright and berry toned and I look like a clown because it is very hard to sheer it out.

It doesn't have any shimmer particles just smooth color. It is very pigmented and it gives me the idea that it was perhaps designed for darker skin tones... I can imagine someone with olive or even darker skin really rocking this blush.
I did pass it on to a friend and perhaps she will get some use out of it (I will rather use the Essence Befitting blush ;).



Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Project Polish

Hello,

this will be my last Project Polish for this year and I'm wrapping it with the number 20 used up, thrown away (if they dried out) or passed down, if I didn't love it anymore. Here are the last three of them:

Dark green Essence Kiss under the mistletoe is a beautiful creme nail polish that I really liked wearing. At the moment I don't have anything similar but I have two shimmery, dark green nail varnishes that will somehow replace this one and the last one in the line.

In the middle is another Essence Snowflakes are kisses sent from heaven (this and the previous are from their 2014 advent calendar). It had hexagonal and bar glitters that pumped up every look but I'm quite happy that it is gone because I was getting quite sick of it.

The very last one is Depend Ocean green nail polish which is a beautiful holo goddess.

Here I swatched the two beautiful greens, Kiss under the mistletoe and Ocean Green. Essence one doesn't have glossy finish but that was easily fixed with a layer of top coat, it was very pigmented and that is probably the reason why it wasn't so very shiny. The Ocean Green had this beautiful holo finish that glow under the bright sun or indoors under the lights. I will truly miss this baby.



Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Befitting

Hello,

blushes are little pans of joy in my opinion. They can make me look a bit healthier and awake and all in all make me happy, so when Essence started discontinuing all of their blushes we knew something was up. There are six shades in the range (fingers crossed for more shades) and I received one of them.

Essence the blush (very simple and straight to the point) named Befitting.

It is a rosey/toned down berry shade. At first I was a bit sceptical about the tone (these types of shades often turns berry on me and I don't like that) but as it turns out it is rosey and actually very natural looking shade on my pale complexion.

First swatch is heavy handed while the second one is a bit more blended and it shows how it looks on the cheeks. I love the shade because it is not too bright or berry but it still makes me look fresh and awake. This particular shade is matte but again it is not a flat matte (Essence does this matte finish so well) in fact I like it so much that I went to the store and picked up another shade which will be revealed soon ;)



Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Empties

Hello,

time for the empties and this will be my second to last post for this year but don't worry, next year I will start fresh ;)

First we have this gorgeous mascara from the Avon and it is their cult classic Supeshock mascara (the only one that my sister uses and mine version is in the LE packaging, otherwise it just comes in a simple black tube). I love how it separates my lashes without clumping them but it still makes them look voluminous. I already have a new tube ready to be used.

Next is  Catrice Eyeconista waterproof mascara. I had to get to use to it and especially to let it dry, I find that a lot of waterproof mascaras are very wet at first and that makes them hard to work with but once it dried down it was nice. I didn't use it on its own but rather as a topper to make every look waterproof (so nothing could catch me off guard  :).

The last item is my beloved Himalaya purifying neem foaming face wash. This face wash is one of the two that I love and is constantly in my rotation. At the moment I'm using the other one but if I will see it on sale I'm grabbing it for sure.

For the end I have two eye shadow palettes that aren't completely empty but due to their age they don't perform like they used to so I decided to part with them even though it is hard but I have other shadows that were left untouched because I was focusing on these two and if I don't use them they will also dry down like these two did.

First is Terra Naturi Coffee Party trio of what looks like the most boring selection of nudes but the finish is phenomenal, sateen and rich looking.

The first, lightest shade is my favorite but often I would just mix the two lightest shades together and the darker one I would place in the outer corner and be done. As of lately I have noticed that they dried and fallout on my cheeks wasn't pretty. I'm throwing this palette away but my heart still hurts. Swatches look nice but if I try to apply them with my brush on my small eyes it is a different story.

Catrice All about Nudes palette is an oldie but a goldie and as you can see I have a back up (brand new, completely untouched so throwing old and broken one away doesn't hurt me so much).
Towards the end I was only using the first two shades. First is golden shimmer and great for inner corners and second is close to my skin tone and again with beautiful sateen finish that can elevate every look (this one is completely gone). The rest are very dry and chalky (they were very nice at the beginning but as the years went by...), fallout is inevitable so I didn't touch them for the past few months.




Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Crystal Dreams

Hello,

Essence is teasing us with another lovely Winter inspired collection and it is a good one. Named Crystal Dreams and beautiful silver packaging really set up an amazing mood. Big thank's to the Essence PR team for sending me two products from this up coming line.

I have received the eye shadow palette with 11 'beautiful rose and gold shadows in matte and metallic finishes - with an amazing pay-off' and pink toned highlighter in a smaller box. The presentation is gorgeous and the products inside are very intriguing. I will put them to the test and let you know what I think about them.

P.S. Did you see the lip oils? There are two shades, I feel like I 'need' them since I just finished all of my lip oils... and Essence ones are my favorite...



Thank you for reading and have a nice day