Moonlight

 Hello,

I am back with another face palette. I used to have only one face palette, now I have I think three more... I always find it hard to find one where I like all of the included shades.

On the photos there is Gogo tales Highlight Contouring face palette in Moonlight option. There are two matte highlighter shades, one warm bronzer and one contour shade.

I love the unconventional pan division. It makes it a bit more unique and separates this palette from any other.

I started swatching it from the top pale shade which has a bit of yellow in it, then followed with pretty warm toned bronzer, next with a contor which isn't super cool toned and I wish it would have more grey in it. Last is tall white shade. 

None of the shades has any shimmer and I kind of wish there would be one light shimmery shade so it would substitute as a glowy highlighter... I don't do matte highlighter. I did try it out but it is not for me.

I like the two cream shades more than I thought. The one with yellow undertone is nice to set my eye primer, concealer and just use all over my eyes. I use fluffy brush and the shade isn't very pigmented, just light dusting to prepare for eye shadow. The cooler toned, almost white one has more pigment and is brighter. If I use this one with the same fluffy brush under my eyes it sets my concealer and additionally brighten the area. First one is more neutral and whiter one is for a more dramatic look.

I really enjoy this palette and can use it on my face and on my eyes, I am really surprised just how nice it is.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Pink Grey

 Hello,

I wanted to venture a bit into face palettes, especially to get a new contour powder. I found this brand and since these are very inexpensive I took two different ones, this is the first one since the colors appeal to me more.

This palette is from Veecci and it is their face palette in Pink Grey option (there are four plus some limited editions). This one looked the most versatile for me. 

The ripple effect on the packaging is beautiful and nice to touch :)

It is supposed to contain one shimmery and one matte highlighter, blush and contour shade, since I am probably not the right skin tone as the brand predicted soft pink 'blush' barely shows up on me and even then it is too pale to be called a blush, at least on my skin tone.

I swatched them in clockwise order, starting with the shimmery highlighter. I like this one on my eyes, for my cheeks I feel like it is too shimmery. 

Pink blush is a bit too pale for me skin tone so I started using it on my eyes to set my eyeshadow primer and set my concealer. I use fluffy brush and the color does not show up.

Third is contour which isn't super cool on me but something in between. I would prefer for it to be a bit more grey but even like this I can use it on my cheeks or my eyes.

Last is big pan of this cream matte highlighter. It is slightly lighter on my skin when I pack it on. I can use it in the same matter as the matte pink shade, under and over my eyes to set concealer or primer.

Contour shade is very powdery, soft pink one also kicks some but not that much, the other two are fine.

I love the packaging but shades aren't quite right for me. I like the contouring powder but since it is in small packaging it will be used first and fast. It is not a bad palette, I can see myself using these shades but only the brown shade for its purpose. The two mattes could be used as powders for my eye areas, face and neck. For the shimmery shade I even have a plan to crush it and mix it with my hair spray to add some sparkles and finish it up because I don't believe I can use it all up on my eyes.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Wave

 Hello,

I was browsing the Asian online store and saw this palette and I started thinking about contouring again. I am not good at it and I usually don't love my face sharply contoured but when I saw the packaging it sealed the deal.

Here I have Judydoll 2 in 1 highlighter contour palette in Wave option (I think there are five, I picked up the coolest one but the one with the blush shade also looks interesting).

I love that the wave is translated also on the product inside. It has two highlighter shades (large one is matte and bottom one is shimmery), third pan is cool contour and under is warm bronzer.

Here is a closer look of the pattern and the pretty sparkle.

Matte highlighter is barely visible on my skintone (my face is paler so it just blends into nothing, I use it for setting my eyeshadow primer and under eyes concealer), next is cool contour, then warm bronzer which isn't orange but the tone is pretty neutral and just right for me. Last is shimmery shade which sparkles white and iridescent pink, not worm nor cool, pretty in the middle.

I had to build these finger swatches to even show up on my arm. When it comes to face products like these I prefer buildable pigment. For me it is easier to apply multiple layers because it is easier to add than to remove once it is on my face. 

They are also easy to blend and the two brown shades are just right for me.

Matte highlighter is a bit disappointing since it is just like face powder but if I turn it around then this palette is an all rounder because I can set concealer. 

Glow highlighter is a bit too shimmery for my taste to be used on the cheeks but on the eyes it looks super pretty, especially if I don't pack it up so much as I did on the swatch and it is a bit more subtle, I call it my everyday shimmer.

The three matte shades are multitaskers since I use them all over my face and my eyes. I have done a few looks with just this palette (I used foundation and concealer) but for everything else I used only these four shades. 

I think it makes my make-up subtle but put together, I hit the jackpot with the contour and bronzer tones, I love the shimmery shade and I found use for the matte highlighter. I can see myself using it a lot in the future and if something would happen to it at the moment I would get it again.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Empties

 Hello,

it is the last day of August and for me it is time to showcase my empties. I have quite a few make-up related items and I'm super happy to finally see some of them being empty and gone.

From Dusch das I have this Magnolia body wash which I had previously and really liked the Magnolia scent. It is creamy and floral and I enjoy it a lot, plus it is very inexpensive. I have another backup but I will wait a bit and use something else in between.

Next is another body was and it is from Balea and it is their Raspberry and Rose body wash. This is also my second bottle ad this scent is one of my favorites but unfortunately it was only a limited edition so I can't get my hands on it anymore. I predominately used this as my shampoo, it was able to remove all of the residue (balms, oils and all kinds of sprays that I use on my hair) and made my hair super soft and clean.

Last is Victoria's Secret Mango Temptation body spray. I purchased it a couple of years ago and back then I loved the scent now I think it is just okay. I sprayed myself and my room with it daily to be able to finish it up. The scent was nice, creamy Mango but it faded way too fast for my liking. I have another scent from them and when I will finished it up, I probably won't buy more from them. I now use perfumes instead of body sprays.

I manged to use up two Rimmel London Stay Matte lightweight, mattifying powders in Transparent. I would use one in the morning at home and the other one I would keep at work for touch ups. This powder is really nice for my oily complexion because it keeps me matte for longer plus it doesn't look all cake-y applied on top of my make-up after a couple of hours. I already unpacked two new ones and are ready to be used.

Trend it Up face contouring set in all matte 010 shade (swatches are here). First pan held contouring cool toned powder which was my favorite even though I figure it out that I don't find contouring my face an essential step and I could easily drop this habit but since I have the product... If I would get this palette again I would get it only because of this perfect for my skin tone shade. Second was a super warm bronzer that I didn't exactly love. It is gone and now I can move to the more enjoyable shades. The very last pan was filled with a slightly yellow toned powder and was meant to be used to lightly highlight the high points of your face but since it matched my skin tone completely I used it as a face powder and I was done with it pretty fast. This palette is done and gone, I feel happy to be finished but I won't repurchase it.

This Avon SuperExtend Lenghtening mascara in Brown/Black shade is still one of my favorites. Plastic wand brushes through my lashes and separates them while the little fibres adds to the length. Very nice and it can look a bit dramatic without looking like a fake lash look. At the moment I'm using the Essence mascara that I enjoy very much but this will definitely get repurchased.

The only remaining cream highlighter is this Catrice dewy finish strobe to glow highlighter in the shade Space Queen, Silver Rose (heavy swatch below). It looked amazing on me but cream products are so hard to finish up before they turn so I used it also on my chest and arms, I tried really hard to finish it up this year so now I can 'finally' use my powder highlighters.

The very last item is this amazing Avon Always on Point eye liner in the color Molten Rose. This is completely finished and I couldn't get any more for a little swatch at the end. It was supposed to be rose gold but to me it was more of a bronze shimmery shade. I loved it on its own, especially on my lover lash line or over some darker color on top of my upper lid. So fun and quick to do. At the moment I have nothing to replace it but I would like to have something similar so I just might go shopping...

Next week I will finally be on a vacation and fingers crossed the weather will stick so I will be able to suntan (I will take a lot of sun protection with me), swim and read lots of books. This years vacation will be different from last years but hopefully I will relax and have some good time despite everything that is going on.

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

Essence gift

Hello,

I consider myself as a very lucky girl. I was sent this lovely PR gift from Essence including three new items from their recent update.

I received contouring duo palette for lighter skin. Both shades are matte and the first one almost look like a face powder, I wonder if it will be a good match or it will be slightly too dark but as a contour or bronzer is too light... The other shade looks like a lovely bronzer. It is way too warm to be a contour ( I had a feeling that it will be like that in the first place so I'm not even mad or surprised). I love bronzers and I'm always excited to receive more.

The blush is in this lovely berry/plum shade named Befitting. I wonder if the formula is even better that the previous  one. Their blushes were already amazing so I wonder if they were even able to upgrade the already amazing texture.

The last items is their new line of lipsticks and honestly I was the most excited to try this one out. They go by the perfect shine name and I couldn't be happier. I love shiny lipstick ;) I received soft red one with the name Perfect Plan. To bad that they don't have soft rose tone.

I will start testing them out immediately simply because I can't contain myself, so many lovely goodies to try out.




Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Ashy Radiance

Hello,

this is one of my lucky finds before it sold out. Everyone who tried it was raving about it and it just stuck in my head that I should have it as well since it got an almost cult tag.

Catrice prime and fine professional contour palette in Ashy Radiance (the lightest option).

The contour part looks a bit warm and it looks more like a bronzer than a shading powder in my opinion at least on my skin tone. It makes me cringe every time I see someone using warm bronzer under their cheekbones to 'sculpt' them. Are you kidding me? Do people really don't see the difference between bronzer and contour colors?

Anyways, on some this works perfectly fine, on my warm toned skin it looks okay as bronzer.
First we have cream colored shimmery highlighter which is a tad too shimmery but manageable it looks more silver toned on the skin than in the pan (I love it in my inner corners or all over the lid as a eye shadow).
The bronze color as I mentioned looks nice on the back of my cheekbones close to my hair line, if that makes sense or I absolutely love it as an eye shadow all over the lid and blended into the crease.
Usually, if I use it  on my cheeks I also use it on my eyes and those little multi taskers are the best, even though I was a bit disappointed from the tone I reach for it quite often and use it all over. I still give it a thumb up.




Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Essence and Catrice

Hello,

on my day off I decided to treat myself with a walk through the drugstore and pick some items up that were on my wishlist for a long time. It was just a coincidence that Catrice is having a sale on their ultimate nail lacquer line (the regular line which is getting replaced with the new ICONails gel lacquers, so far they have them as a LE but soon more shades will join the range and completely replace the round bottles as we know). There is one grey shade that caught my eye but I decided to wait for some swatches first, instead I picked up two 'old' shades and for now I have enough.

The biggest and probably the most coveted item is the Catrice prime and fine professional contouring palette in the lighter shade Ashy Radiance. I have heard only good things about it and now I finally got it for myself. I don't have any contouring powders and it looks like this would be a good one to start with.

Second is another cheek product but this one is from Essence and it is their blush ball in the most neutral almost bronze shade Cinnamon Candy. I have locked my eyes on this blush since it came out, the other two shades are also pretty but this particular color really stood out and I had to pick it up.

As mentioned, these polishes are getting discontinued and were on sale so I went through every shade and only the two blue interested me. They are very similar but since the prices were reduced and I haven't bought any nail polish bottles this year I could justify purchasing both.
The top, slightly darker and with some tiny shimmer is called Summer Nights Sky and the bottom one is named The Sky so Fly.

Two more products that look almost the same in terms of tones but I'm looking for a dupes of a discontinued pencil from Avon and these two shades looks very similar.
They are both from Essence the top one is from their kajal pencil line and the shade is N'iced Coffee and second one is Extreme Lasting easy glide and waterproof pencil in the Rockin' Taupe.

Rockin' Taupe and N'iced Coffee might look similar but the formulas are different and one is even supposed to be waterproof. I hope the shades will turn out the way I want them to and that they won't smudge all over my lids.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Essence: The little x-mas factory, preview

Hello,

Dear Santa! essence has received all Christmas wish lists and Santa’s hardworking elves are doing everything in their power to prepare the perfect surprise. The result: the new trend edition “the little x-mas factory”, which will be available in stores from November to December 2016 to make all your beauty dreams come true. Classical colors like gold or pine green are combined with cool pink. The absolute X-MUSTS are the eye shadow palette, two mini hand creams with Christmassy fragrances and the “shimmering stars”. Season’s greetings from essence!

essence the little x-mas factory – eyeshadow palette

Melting away! The eyeshadow palette with five shimmering colors creates stunning eye make-up styles – and the pressing pattern on the texture is sure to make your heart melt, too. Available in 01 north pole express delivery.

essence the little x-mas factory – liquid gold eyeliner


Golden times. The liquid eyeliner with a long applicator creates golden eyeliner styles for a glamorous look. Available in 01 ho-ho-ho.

I wonder what kind of tip it has and how yellow it will be, I guess we will have to wait a little.

essence the little x-mas factory – liptint

Under the mistletoe! The liptint stains the lips in a gorgeous bright pink that is sure to last. Available in 01 all i want for x-mas is you.

essence the little x-mas factory – lipbalm

Happy holiday! The lipbalm in a small tub provides the lips with moisture and a hint of color in subtle rosé. Available in 01 merry kissmas.

essence the little x-mas factory – 2 in 1 core concealer

Elfin beauty! An elf-like complexion is not a problem thanks to the concealer - the transparent core evens out irregularities while the nude texture covers up impurities of the skin. Available in 01 elf-approved!.

essence the little x-mas factory – contouring palette

Fabulous face. The palette contains a dark color for shading and a highlighter shade to accentuate the features. With a cute gift-bow pattern on the surface of the texture. Available in 01 elf yourself!.

essence the little x-mas factory – shimmering stars

Little stars! The small, shimmering stars in highlighter and bronzer shades give the face a gorgeous glow. Available in 01 please, hurry down the chimney!.

essence the little x-mas factory – nail polish

Christmas colors. Gold with a foil finish, white with a light shimmer as well as pink and pine green without an effect are Santa’s favorites. Available in 01 i still believe in santa claus, 02 let´s take an elfie, 03 santa baby and 04 meet me under the mistletoe.

essence the little x-mas factory – nail jewelry sticker

Bling-bling! The stickers create a golden net on the surface of the nails to turn them into true gems! Available in 01 santa´s back in town.

essence the little x-mas factory – super rich mini hand cream
Delicious care. The two hand creams with a vanilla and cookie fragrance come in a practical mini-size to pamper the hands of all hardworking Christmas helpers. Available in 01 holiday hugs… and 02 …and mistletoe kisses.

essence the little x-mas factory – scented hair brush

Holiday hair! This small hairbrush with a subtle Christmas scent gives the hair a gorgeous shine. Available in 01 dear santa, it wasn´t me!. 

essence the little x-mas factory – eau de toilette

Smells like x-mas. The warm, sweet fragrance is reminiscent of the wintery atmosphere of cozy, beautifully decorated Christmas markets. Chocolate-Cranberry and nectarine in the top note, freesia and peonies in the middle note and caramel, vanilla and tonka bean in the base note are the characteristic ingredients of this eau de toilette. Available in 30ml, 01 it´s magic.

All in all, I think this is a lovely all round collection with a lot of special products. I will keep my eyes open for the eye shadow palette (not that I need more), lip tint, contouring palette, even though it is probably more of a bronzer. Shimmering stars are such an eye catchers and I wonder what a chocolate - cranberry and nectarine, mixed together would smell like. 

Thank you for reading and have a nice day