The Way I Am

Hello,

today I have a lipstick that has become my new obsession. I absolutely love the shade and the formula and I'm super happy that I have found this little gem.

It is Catrice Power Plumping Gel Lipstick in the shade The Way I Am. Just recently they added some more shades to the range and I'm interested at how new colors looks like.

The Way I Am is a lovely nude/pink shade which suits my pale complexion to the T.

Cut at the slight angle makes application easy and creamy formula glides easily over my lips.

Catrice says that the formula is infused with Hyaluronic Acid which helps retain moisture, I have noticed that my lips looks nice and hydrated all day long as long as I was reapplying it through the day.

I think they found a nice balance between pigment and glossy finish - just the way I like it :)

Catrice used to have Ultimate Shine Gel Color lipsticks in silver bullets which were some of my favorites and I think these are somewhat similar. New version seems more pigmented with maybe a bit less gloss but they are just as comfortable and moisturizing as I remember the old ones were.

I think on my bare skin this shade, The Way I Am pulls a bit more nude, and looks extra juicy.

However, on my lips it looks more pink, which I'm not mad about. I am feeling a light pink lip at the moment and love wearing it even though most of the time it is covered under the mask.

Here it doesn't looks as glossy as it actually is but none of  my photos come out the way I wanted. I would say that the finish is more realistic on the swatch on my wrist but the way it looks on my lips is closer to a real color.

I have to say that I am very happy about this lipstick line and for sure I will check other shades and probably I will get some for my mom as well since we have pretty similar taste in lipstick formulas. I bet she would love this exact shade as well or maybe the bright pink named For The Brave.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day 

Catrice ultimate shine gel color

Empties

 Hello,

another empties post in a row. This has become the easiest post to write but also I had nothing new to talk about. That changed yesterday because I went shopping and bought a few new make-up bits. I wanted to get new face primer and along the way I got some more products...

Biobaza Bee Balm and I have two versions of them. Yellow is Ginger & Honey and purple one is Lavender & Vanilla. In my initial review I said that they are on the top three list of my favorite lip balms formula but now I seem like I changed my mind. I wore them in the cold weather and that is when I had some issues. It seem like this formula doesn't like cold weather because it gets all gunky, hard and sticky at he same time while on the lips, outside or indoors if it is too cold. That product buildup is not looking nice and it also feels 'uncomfortable'. If I ever repurchase these I will make sure to use them while it is warm but at the end I don't think I will. There are so many brands out there that I would like to try out...

Next is this lovely dry shampoo from Langhaar Mädchen which is already a repurchase. Affordable price with a lovely scent, somehow floral with a touch of power, barely any white residue and matte finish. This is neck to neck with the Batiste and I will buy more from both brands, I just wish LM would have more scents but this one that they have is amazing already, so...

Last are two face powders, one is my old time favorite and the other one I just finished up so I can throw it away. One of my favorites is Rimmel London Stay Matte face powder in Transparent. I went through a couple of them and I still have backups. I love how matte my face looks like and it holds my oils at bay for a few hours and then I just retouch and continue with my day.

The other one is Benecos Natural compact powder in the shade Porcelain. When I bough it it was the lightest shade available (maybe now they have shades for paler people but I haven't checked them out in a while). It was too dark for me but I would use it on my neck to help it match (my neck seems to appear lighter than my face so I use a tad lighter foundation on my face and a tad darker one on my neck and at the end my face and neck don't look like they belong to two different people ;)

Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Empties

 Hello,

I'm back with a few empties. Nothing to big this time but just a bunch of every day items.

Neutrogena unfragranced hand cream in a limited edition packaging. This was actually really nice and if I'm not mistaken I bought two at the time (they were meant as a gift but I changed my mind and kept both). This has a thick formula and a little goes a long way. It immediately smooths over dry areas and creates film on my skin to protect it further on. It is not sticky or leaves greasy prints. This 75ml tube lasted me for months and I think it was really awesome. I'm super glad that I have another one on hand.

Next is Avon advance Technique heat protection spray. My bottle is very old and I'm not sure if it still works but I still used it up. I guess it can't hurt. I would use it on damp hair after I would get out of the shower and blow dry them. I didn't noticed any big difference but if I used too much my hair would be a bit crunchy the next day, so key is to use a little bit at the time. This is a product that I probably won't repurchase it again.

Tube is another Neutrogena product and this is visibly clear in the shower face mask. You are supposed to use it on wet face under the shower, leave it on for a minute and rinse. I liked how convenient and fast it was but at the end I didn't noticed that big of a difference on my skin opposed to some clay masks which are supposed to dry completely. I liked it enough to finish it up but next time I will get something different. I prefer my clarifying face masks to show better results with every use.

The very last item is Ombia cosmetics face mousse with Aloe Vera. It was very inexpensive product from the store and I decided to give it a go. I was actually very nicely surprised. It didn't irritate my skin and managed to remove my make-up or oil buildup. Very nice face wash for morning or evening. If I see it again I would repurchase it again.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Empties

 Hello,

this is jet another empties post in a row. For now this is all I could do but I'm planning on some more posts in the future, more interesting than my trash ;)

Garnier body lotion, oil beauty with Argan, Macadamia, Almond and Rose oil. This has a lovely light texture which absorbs very fast and leaves my skin silky smooth. I bought this after my sister recommendation and she was wright. This smells divine (creamy and super comforting), is moisturizing and doesn't leave my skin sticky. This is a love and I will repurchase it again.

Next is another one of my sister's favorites and it is from beloved brand Rituals. Mine is from the: The Rituals of Sakura collection which smells like organic rice milk and cherry blossom and it is caring shower oil. I felt weird showering with it so I made my own little ritual of using it. I would shower and before patting my body dry I would apply it all over, massage a bit and then just quickly rinse it off. That way I made sure my body was clean and because I lightly rinse it off the scent stayed on my skin for longer. This seriously smells amazing. I will try and buy the lotion, if I will find some nice sales.

Nivea 1 minute urban detox mask is something I loved a couple of years ago but my love for it slowly died. I still like it but now I prefer the blue one from this line. This has little granules which do some of the scrubbing and now I prefer to use enzyme opposed to mechanical scrubs. I would massage it onto my face while in the shower and rinse it of. The base of the mask feels a bit thick so it is easy to put it on all over my face and it stays there for as long as I want (it doesn't slip), it almost feels like a clay mask and that helps with that clean feel that I used to really love but now I feel like it is maybe a bit too much. I noticed I got more gentle with my skin lately and I think it suits me more, so this mask won't be repurchased.

Next is Ren clearcalm 3 replenishing gel cream for blemish prone skin. This one does come with a big plastic lid which I threw away some time ago (I hate lids that are detachable and I will most likely throw them away as soon as possible unless there is a big opening and the product gets exposed to the air, so all of my pots still do have lid but most spray bottles don't). With this product the lid is important and I wish I wouldn't throw it away because sometimes the product that is at the top of the nozzle would get a bit dry and would block the product to get out. If you ever buy this product or something from Ren that has this type of a bottle, keep the lid. So, I still used it and I have to say I didn't notice anything special  about it (maybe the magical ingredient evaporated because of my stupid mistake). This product applies nicely only on dry skin (forget toners and serums underneath, this cream needs some slip) and I had to apply little by little otherwise it just didn't sink in. When it did, my skin just drink it up and was left thirsty. I always had to put something more moisturizing on top because this wasn't enough and did I notice my blemishes disappearing faster? Nope, my skin didn't particularly love it and I'm super happy that it is gone and now I can move to something different.

The very last item is Essence Bloom, Baby Bloom! lip gloss in the shade Hibis-kiss. It was a limited edition gloss which looked more like lip oil in my opinion. The shade was clear, very fruity sweet (I loved the scent) and it looked extra glossy just like lip oil. Sadly it also disappeared super fast, 15/20 minutes and it was gone. I started to use it at home and it went very quickly. I think it took me a month and it was gone. Also I would like to mention that the bottle started to leak. No matter how many times did I wipe it, the product as always coming trough and because the consistency is more like an oil it was running very fast and was leaving greasy marks all over. I'm super happy that it is gone and even though I liked the scent and it was moisturizing enough to be used on its own I would not repurchase it (not that it is still available).

Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Empties

 Hello,

today I have a very small empties post. I tried to finish as many as possible before the end of December that I had barely any products left to finish in the first half of this month.

First is one of my favorites and it is Avon Anew Hydro-Advance eye cream. It is already discontinued now but I have two more backups and in the mean time I hope they will release something similar. The cream is slightly thicker and it takes around 10 minutes to absorb which is too long for me in the morning but I loved it in the evening when I don't mind greasier textures. I used a couple of pots before and I honestly believe that this is a very moisturizing cream which with everyday use deeply moisturized my eye area and as a result my skin looked plumped. When I don't use it for a week or so my skin around eyes can get drier and lines are more visible... I don't know why they felt the need to discontinue it but maybe it didn't work as well as it does on me.

Next is another favorite of mine and it is Nivea deo beauty elixir, deo milk antiperspirant. Again, I finished a bottle of it before so this is another love of mine. I prefer roll-ons as they are the creamiest and easiest to put on for me (not the most hygienic but still). The scent on this one is super creamy - clean. It is not powerful enough to distract or mesh with my perfume but when I put it on I instantly feel refreshed. This keeps my odor at bay, only in the hot hot Summer I layer it with an extra deodorant to achieve fresh smell all day long. I already repurchased it but at the moment I'm using something new just to shake things up a bit.

Then we have Avon care regenerating with Argan oil hand cream for dry to extra dry hands. At first I was scared that it will be super greasy but it has this awesome Avon care formula. It feels like a lotion, quite light and quick to absorb but my skin feels super pampered and taken care of. The scent is nothing too offensive as it has a barely there nutty scent. This cream turned out to be a total hit and I'm definitely repurchasing it again.

The very last one is this huge Afrodita cosmetics Nettle shampoo. It is meant for greasy hair, which I have and it is supposed to help strengthen them and help with hair loss reduction. For the last two I really can't confirm or deny but I think it really is a very good cleansing shampoo. It removes all hair buildup and afterwards my hair felt light and super silky. If you are looking something to add volume this isn't for you, but I like my hair to have this silkiness which is quite easy to achieve with cleansing shampoos but I had to use more nourishing masks or oils afterwards to prevent my hair from being too stripped down. At the moment I have a different shampoo in my shower but it has very similar qualities to it so I will try to combine it with a lighter shampoo so I won't accidentally damage and dry my hair out. I love this and it is very cheap so I will definitely repurchase it again.

Even though there are only four products here they are all some of my favorites and if I don't already have a backup I will get it very soon.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Empties

 Hello,

this will be my last empties post for this year and I tried to squeeze in as many products as possible.

Here is another Himalaya foaming Neem face wash (there is still a little bright green liquid visible but in the evening I will use it all up). This is one of the two of my favorite face washes. It effectively removes my make-up residue and does not strip my skin out. It creates nice foam which feels like a cloud and it is quite inexpensive but I usually just wait for some extra sales and buy two bottles at the time.

I like to use oil first on my face to melt the make-up and then wash it off with a face wash, so this oil form Milnica was a first step. I had this Apricot oil which smelled like roasted Almonds. In general I like Almonds but this was a bit too strong for me and I didn't like it. The oil itself was pretty nice, quite thick and it worked at removing my make-up very well. It did its job nicely but this scent bothered me too much to repurchase it again.

Then I have two Catrice LE fixing sprays which worked exactly the same for me. First is from Active Warrior LE and I loved it so much that this is my third and last bottle of it. I would repurchase it in a heart beat if I could. The other is newer and it is from Sungasm collection and had fake/plastic scent to it. I didn't like it that much but at least it is faint and it goes away pretty fast. I do have one backup left. I love using them on my face especially now when I have to wear a mask so much.

Here is my last batch of lip products for this year. First is L'occitane Shea balm with Apricot. It smelled very nice but it was very thick but at the same time it got absorbed super fast and it left my lips bare and exposed. I didn't like the formula that much so at the end I just used it on any dry patch on my body and didn't only focus on my lips because I wanted it gone.

Next to it is one of my favorites and I'm super sad that they don't make them anymore. It is Nivea Lip Butter, mine is in the Blueberry scent and it had Blueberry yogurt feel. I love this. The scent, the soft texture, the creaminess which stayed on my lips till the next morning and managed to moisturize my lips all night long... why, oh, why did they had to discontinue it. This is marvelous lip balm. 

The Body Shop Pink Grapefruit lip balm is a big fail for me and I won't talk too much about it because my heart still hurts. I bought it a couple of years ago and the other day I wanted to use it for the first time I noticed that it went bad... brand new product that I had around for way too long, shame on me :(

This is one of my favorite lipstick and of course it is already discontinued. It is Essence Sheer & Shine lipstick in the shade BFF. This is a lovely pinky/red shade. It looks very gloss when applied and stayed like that for quite some time, after it dries completely the soft stain remained and it looked more fuchsia than pink on me. Very, very nice. This was my third and also last shade I had, I can only hope that Essence will come back with this lovely formula.

Kneipp Elderberry lip balm was one of those necessities that I always carry in my purse or have at work. It was a nice little balm which kept my lips in check. I like the formula but the scent/taste was when it lost me. Sometimes this gave me mud/dirt vibes and honestly it was quite surprising and unpleasant. Fortunately that only happened occasionally and it disappeared quickly. I might buy another one from this brand but for sure I will pick another flavour. 

Thank you for reading and have a nice day

Project Polish

 Hello,

this is the very last project polish of this month and in total there are 20 bottles that I managed to ether use up or gave away. I did bought a few new ones but compared with the amount of gone nail polishes... nothing so significantly, so my numbers of nail polishes are going down respectively every year.

I finished up two more of these Essence Nail Candies, the first in a more violet tone is called Like Love Birds and lighter pink is Soda Pop & Candy Shop. I like these milky shades which are very forgiving because of their sheer aspect and I feel like I always have to have one close. I still have a couple of them left (I went crazy when they were discontinuing them and bought a whole bunch for me and my mom). I already moved fresh bottles forward and I'm already putting them in a good use so expect some more nail candies next year ;)

Next is Essence Vampire's Love LE in the shade Into the Dark. A beautiful navy with little silver shimmer which isn't very reflective. I really like the base color and the fact that the shimmer isn't so very obvious, this baby will be missed but I do have some more navy blue shades to replace this one.

The last one is another Essence from their Crystalliced collection named It's a Snow-Woman's World. Another favorite of mine. I don't quite know why I love these light grey shades but I do. This is a perfect cream still with perfect formula. Essence nail polishes in general are a hit for me (formula vise) I just have to pick the 'right' shade for me amongst the huge selection that they have, plus they are very affordable to begin with.

I'm still loving this project. Seeing all these bottles being finished up motivates me to go through more and at the same time buy less. I can clearly see how slowly I'm using up the bottles so I don't need so many. My short goal is to just continue next year and a long one is to have around 10 bottles and use all of them evenly. I'm realizing that I don't need all of the colors for my personal use to make me happy. Less is more, that is the approach that I'm going for.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day