BOURJOIS Rouge Edition Velvet

07 Nude-ist

This is a complete winner of the month for me. I took a chance and I tried a shade I never imagined on me before and it turned out way better than I could have ever expected. Nude-ist is far from a proper nude shade on me, but it's one of those fantastic natural shades that give me a bit of colour and define the lips. It's a beautiful muted rose shade on me and features that awesome matte formula Bourjois does so well. Love this.

KIKO Long Lasting Stick

38 Golden Taupe

If you're an avid reader of beauty blogs then I'm sure that the Kiko Long Lasting Sticks hype didn't escape you and I can tell you it's fully justified. The taupe shade I own is incredibly creamy, doesn't tug on the lids at all and blends with ease. The staying power is really impressive as well, since on my normal lids it can easily get through the day with minimal creasing, which only occurs much later in the day. The only thing I'm not a fan of is the chunky shimmer, but I'll live with it.

MAC Eyeshadow

Satin Taupe

Once I started using Golden Taupe on a daily basis, it occurred to me that the tone of it is very close to how Satin Taupe looks on my eyes. It turns out these work great in conjunction with each other as Satin Taupe is just a bit deeper shade on my lids, but without the shimmer. 

MODELS OWN HyperGel Gel Effect Polish

Midsummer Mauve

This is that one fantastic transition shade that can easily be worn from autumn though winter into spring because it's such a nice mix of styles. It's a mix of autumn-winter murky taupe and spring pastel lilac shade, so it looks very modern on the nails. Plus this formula has a very shiny finish.

ESSIE Nail Lacquer

Mint Candy Apple

It's officially spring and it's time to dust off the pastels. Mint Candy Apple is the quintessential pastel mint green shade and you just can't really have a spring without it. Granted the formula is horrendous and it reminds me how far pastels have come in the recent years, but it's worth the extra work. There are many, many (better performing) dupes for this shade, but Mint Candy Apple just has that cult status. 

L'OCCITANE Immortelle Oil Make-up Cleanser

As far as oil cleansers go, this is definitely my favourite. It's the only one so far that didn't cause me problems after a longer use, in fact, it keeps my skin in a very decent condition plus it removes every scrape of makeup even my heavy-duty waterproof mascara. I've switched back to Emma Hardie's cleansing balm for a while because I need to use up my opened cleansers and my skin almost immediately didn't look as good. I even got a few dry patches, so I went back to using this one and it helped. I do mind that it doesn't feel as luxurious as balms and I hate how foggy my vision is after using it, but because it works for my skin, it's currently my favourite cleanser out the ones I have. Balance Me Cleansing Balm is still my absolute favourite, with Good Things Manuka Honey being my second, but this is firmly planted on third place and removes makeup the best out of three. The price is a bit extreme though, but I heard they have some promotion on cleansers in L'Occitane at the moment, at least here. 

BALEA Beauty Effect Power Maske

I found a great hydrating mask that helps me when my skin is feeling super thirsty and it was just there in my local DM. I've said before that this is a similar product to Origins Drink Up Intensive mask, but I like it even more because this one has hyaluronic acid in it. My skin had a bit of a patchy moment on my cheeks, but this mask quickly fixed that. I should really explore Balea's skin care more (any recs?).

LANCÔME Hypnôse Mascara Waterproof

Yes, I'm going to rave about this mascara once more. It's when I'm testing other mascaras that I realise how bloody fantastic this one is. At the end of the day (which is currently at 2 A.M.), my foundation looks worn-off, the blush is long gone as is the eyeshadow, but my lashes look like I just applied mascara five minutes ago. They are still perfectly curled, there is no smudging and all the mascara is still there. That's what I call an HG mascara.

LA RIVE Moon

I still can't believe I only paid 4€ for this fabulous scent. It's one of those clean, but classy scents that work no matter the occasion or season. It's basically a cheap knock-off of Hugo Boss Nuit Pour Femme and works just as well. It starts with a nice peachy burst, but it quickly settles into a nice expensive fabric softener scent. And I also love the bottle of this as it's not at all cheap looking. 

KÉRASTASE Nutritive Nectar Thermique

As with mascaras, it's only when I'm using something else that I realize how good the old favourite is. I've had the same thing happen to me with Nectar Thermique. This works for my hair so well not just as heat protection, but also as a leave-in product/conditioner and it never fails me when my hair needs that extra boots of moisture. This is one of the best products for really dry hair.

Have a great day!

I'm a huge fan of hair silicone-oils, but I've only been using high-end ones, with Orofuido being my absolute favourite. It's not hard to justify paying high prices for these silicone-oils, since even with my long hair one bottle can lasts years, but I just wanted to check how the drugstore brands are doing in that department. I checked so many oils and most had completely disappointing ingredients mainly due to high alcohol content or just too many silicones instead of proper oils. Garnier Fructis' one appeared to be the best in the quite a big selection, so I chose the regular version, but there is also a version with added heat protection. 

I must say I was quite disappointed when I saw the texture of this. Considering that argan oil in on the third place among ingredients, this is very light and runny. It's closest in texture to Elixir Ultime, which I never considered to be amazing for dry hair, but good for quick fixes like taming the frizz a bit. Due to lightness if you use it on damp hair, it doesn't help tame the hair much when it's blow-dried, in fact it doesn't do much of anything if used like that apart from perhaps creating a layer of protection from the heat due to silicones. On dry hair it makes the hair sleeker and shinier just like any other oil, but on coarse hair it can't quite manage to tame it for very long, plus you need to use several pumps of it. Of course I think that people with thin hair will most likely love this product because it is so light that it doesn't weight down the hair much (quantity is the key here).

The scent is so blah to me. It's like Nivea with a slight fruity twist or some baby cosmetics, so nothing like the rich scents of other oils I've tried. Even after almost a year, I'm not a fan of it and I consider scents in hair products important because my hair is long and everywhere, therefore also close to my nose. 

The packaging is a plastic one with a good pump. There is 150 ml of product there, which is a huge amount. However, due to lightness it won't last long if you have thick hair as you'll have to use quite a few pumps, but if your hair is thin this should last you ages. 

I used it here on my mother's hair (in internet years an ancient Instagram picture), who has about the same hair texture as me and as you can see it does it's job of making the hair appear healthy and shiny, but as I said it's not the best for dry hair or at least we prefer thicker ones.

I may have expected too much from it. In the mountain of drugstore hair silicone-oils, judging purely from ingredients, absolutely none apart from this one and one other whose brand name I don't recall looked anything particularly special when I was in the shop. Given that the argan oil is supposedly not only in trace amounts since it's placed third on the INCI list, I presumed it was pretty much as good as the professional salon brands ones. It is not. I may be thoroughly spoiled by Orofluido and the likes (I've tried most of the popular high-end ones, which you can read in my Hair Oils Series), but yes, there is a difference between high-end and drugstore treatments that I guess most people won't notice on their hair, but on my dry hair there just is. I consider these silicone-oils more like styling products than care, but thicker ones still manage to keep the hair look nourished longer. This one isn't the best for thick, coarse hair, but those are afraid of these type of products and fear it might make it greasy, might like it a lot.

One "drugstore" oil did impress me. It's Avon's Advanced Techniques Moroccan Argan Oil and that one is close in texture to Orofluido, so it manages to tame thick hair a lot better. Petra, who also suffers from dry hair, gifted me that oil and she loves it as well. If you have a chance to try that one, it's definitely worth checking it out.

I got this oil in Müller for about 10 €. By the way, I saw a different Garnier oil recently and it was much cheaper.

How many of you have tried this and love/like it? Have a great day!

Using makeup sponges for applying foundation never truly won my heart. I find it time consuming and I'm not a fan of how much foundation is wasted due to absorption, but so many people love these sponges because they create a natural, non-cakey finish and there is no denying that they don't do that well. My brief history with makeup sponges is a rocky one. About two years ago I tried the Cosmopolitan's version, which has a nice rating on Makeup Alley, but much to my disappointment, it tore during first washing. I also was not terribly trilled about the fact I needed to use twice as much foundation to get the same level of coverage as with fingers or a brush. But I haven't given up on sponges completely and I still use them on occasion to make the foundation look less fake after applying it with any other method. I've never heard of Nanshy Marvel sponge before, but I was intrigued because of the shape of it, so I agreed to give it a test.

First thing that got me is the colour of it. Yes, I'm shallow like that, but I'm slightly (I can already hear my brother laughing hysterically) obsessed with mint green. Second thing I noticed is how much softer it is when it's dry compared to Cosmopolitan's. It has a combination of shapes - the slight hourglass design like the Cosmopolitan's and the angled cut top like the Real Techniques sponge. 

When it's wet it's bigger than Cosmopolitan's but in terms of softness and squishiness they the same. Both have a similar surface as well. The angled top is super convenient for the under eye area, so I like it more than Cosmopolitan's, however, I still need to use twice as much foundation, which to me is a huge waste. I find that sponges are better if you use them with foundations with a higher level of coverage because if you use it with a sheerer foundation or a BB cream, it barely covers anything since it "drinks up" so much product. I used my worst performing foundation to see if applying it with a sponge will make it look more decent on the skin. I initially liked it a lot, it looked very fresh, natural and it didn't make my pores look like huge craters, which is so much better than at application with a brush or fingers when it comes to this particular foundation. But after a while the foundation set and I again noticed that fake, ageing effect of it, which is completely the foundation's fault and the mere fact that the sponge made it look great a least for little time after application is an achievement. 

When it comes to washing, I find that because it's such a light colour, I can't really get it to be completely clean. I use a bar soap as it is more effective than liquid ones, but even like that there is always a little patch of foundation left on the sponge.

Given that I'm still not a fan of sponges, I can still say that this one a nice one. It's very soft, it does its job and it appears to be of a better quality as the Cosmopolitan's, since it didn't tear once during over a dozen washings. The top did get a bit frayed, but nothing major. It's quite a big sponge once it wet, but the cut shape is really useful for blending under the eyes as it reaches the corners well. 

The sponge costs £5.95 on the official Nanshy site.

Gobice za nanašanje podlage me niso nikoli res prepričale, namreč meni se zdi nanos z njimi preveč zamuden, pa še preveč pudra popijejo, kar meni ni niti malo všeč. Ampak te gobice so izjemno priljubljene saj ustvarijo zelo naraven videz in pomagajo, da podlaga ne izgleda očitna na obrazu. Pred to sem preizkusila samo Cosmopolitanovo gobico, ki me je kar razočarala, saj se je že pri prvem pranju raztrgala. Kljub temu jo še vedno občasno uporabljam po nanosu pudra s čopičem ali prsti, da popravim kakšne čudne predele kjer podlaga ni lepo nanešena. Preden sem dobila to gobico, za znamko Nanshy še nisem slišala, ampak me je oblika gobice pritegnila, da sem se jo odločila preizkusiti.

Seveda sem gobico takoj primerjala s Cosmopolitanovo in opazila, da ko je suha je veliko mehkejša. Nanshy gobica kombinira obliko stisnjeno peščene ure, ki jo ima tudi Cosmopolitanova in pa prirezan vrh, ki je podoben kot pri gobici od Real Techniques. Ko je mokra je večja od Cosmopolitanove, ampak kar se tiče mehkobe se ne razlikujeta. Tudi material je zelo podoben. Prirezan vrh se res obnese pri nanosu in zabrisovanju pod očmi, saj doseže tudi kot med očmi in nosom, torej je boljša od Cosmopolitanove, vseeno pa še vedno porabim dvakrat več podlage, kar je zame velika izguba. Te gobice se bolje obnesejo s podlagami z visoko prekrivnostjo, medtem ko se pri lažjih pudrih in BB kremah komaj kaj izdelka prenese na kožo, ker ga gobica toliko vpije. Nanshy gobico sem preizkusila tudi s svojim najslabšim tekočim pudrom, saj me je zanimalo če vsaj tak način nanosa pomaga, da ne bi izgledal tako čudno na koži. Takoj po nanosu mi je bil izgled podlage res všeč, saj je koža izgledala zelo sveže, naravno in izdelek se ni usedel v pore, ampak na žalost je puder čez nekaj časa postal zelo očiten na koži kar pa je sicer slaba lastnost pudra in ne gobice. Že to, da je tako slab puder izgledal veliko bolje po nanosu kot običajno je dovolj dobro zame.

Barva gobice mi je bila seveda takoj všeč, saj sem malenkost (že slišim mojega brata kako se smeje) obsedena z mentolno zeleno. Ker je gobica tako svetle barve, mi je do zdaj še ni uspelo popolnoma oprati, namreč kljub temu, da uporabljam trdo milo, ki je veliko bolj učinkovito kot tekoče, na gobici vedno ostane malo pudra.

Glede na to, da še vedno nisem neka velika ljubiteljica gobic, lahko še vedno rečem, da je tale čisto v redu. Je zelo mehka in dobro opravi svoje delo, poleg tega pa mi izgleda da je bolj kvalitetna od Cosmopolitanove, saj se po mnogih pranju ni raztrgala, čeprav konica ni več popolnoma ostra, ampak res ni nič hujšega. Je kar velika gobica ko je vlažna, ampak ta prirezana konica je odlična za nanos pod očmi.  

Nanshy gobico lahko kupite na Click2Chic za 7,49 €.

Have a great day!

* I was sent this product / Izdelek so mi poslali iz Click2Chic.

Long Lasting Stick

38 Golden Taupe

There is quite a hype surrounding these stick eyeshadows, especially since they have been dubbed as the dupe for By Terry Ombre Blackstars. I completely get the hype and these definitely deserve it. The texture is amazingly creamy, in fact, it reminds me of Maybelline's Color Tattoos, but in stick form. The stick just glides on the eyes without any tugging, the shade is very pigmented and it blends out so well. The shade I got is a neutral-warm taupe shade, which is in the same colour family as Satin Taupe, but what surprised me is the amount of shimmer in it. The shimmer is quite big and gold-green, so to me it looks a bit out of place, especially when the eyeshadows is blended, but I still love the shade (swatches are towards the end of the post). Staying power is amazing and once it sets it doesn't budge. On my normal lids it goes strong for over a half a day and it doesn't crease. I've been wearing this loads and I'd love to have a few more shades.

6.90 €

Velvet Touch Creamy Stick Blush 

07 Natural Rose

I expected this shade to look a bit different, in particular something like Catrice's Nuts About you, so a natural brownish-rose shade, but Natural Rose is in fact quite pink on me, which is still fine. It's buttery and transfers well on the cheeks in an even swipe, however, I find it's not as easy to blend it evenly on the cheeks with fingers. It's nothing major, but since you're swiping it directly on the skin and blending later, it moves the foundation around, so it can give a bit of a patchy effect, especially when it's fading. I find that it works a lot better if I use a stippling brush to blend. Staying power is quite a strange thing at this blush. If I use fingers it fades a bit patchy and fast, while if I use a brush it stays put a lot better and fades evenly. The finish is natural, so not dewy nor matte.

7.90 €

Velvet Mat Lipstick

612 Strawberry Pink

Kiko has so many lipstick shades and I swear I checked the entire internet for as many swatches as I could possibly find to choose the one for me (I really need to see them in person once). I wanted something completely different from what I already own and Strawberry Pink was literally the last minute choice before I ordered. I definitely don't have anything like it in my collection, but in essence it's just a very classic and almost vintage rose-nude-brown-ish shade. I presume this would be a my-lips-but-better shade on a lot of people, but on me it already gives a bit more colour while still being a natural shade. I wish it were a bit pinker, but you'll see in a full review how it looks on me and judge for yourself. The formula is very creamy upon application, so it's the type of lipstick that glides nicely on the lips leaving behind a classic creamy finish. It does get more matte with wear, but by that time a lot of the colour has worn off, so as far as I'm concerned this doesn't differ from a regular creamy finish lipstick. Just as Sara (Passing Fancy) I noticed  that sometimes it does get a bit uncomfortable on the lips after a few hours. My lips are almost never dry, but this leaves me with a tight feeling on my lips, even though the lips don't look dry. The packaging of this is seriously cool though. 

6.90 €

Smart Lip Pencil

709 Magenta

This is so my colour. It's a deep, bright magenta colour or a deep hot pink with a bit of red. You'd think it's similar to Relentlessly Red, but it is in fact darker and a lot less coral. It's one of those shades that just works with my colouring. The formula of the pencil is very soft and it doesn't tug on the lips, so it's actually similar to Bourjois' pencils, but less waxy. If you love Essence pencils, you'll love these as well. The staying power is a bit disappointing as due to softness it's smudges easily and doesn't survive eating or drinking, which a lot pencil do, but the colour is seriously gorgeous.  

2.50 €

Nail Lacquer

345 Jade Green

I had to get the mint green nail polish, I can't go against my nature. Jade Green is a greener version of Mint Candy Apple, but with a much better performing formula. My Mint Candy Apple is very old and the formula of it is pretty much a nightmare, so Jade Green applies like a dream compared to that one, but it still has those classic faults of the pastel formula, however, all is rectified with two coats.

3.90 €

You may already know that I ordered with two other Slovene bloggers, Petra from Adjusting Beauty and Sandra from Keep Calm and Wear Lipstick, so here is our entire order. Both Sandra and Petra ordered shade 06 of the Long Lasting Stick eyeshadows, so they'll have reviews of that shade as well. 

Sandra got the shade 614 Dark Berry from the Velvet Matte lipstick range, so check out her post if you want to see swatches and first impressions. She writes in Slovene, so if you're an international reader I can sum up for you by saying it's a darker shade on the lips than it appears in the tube and as far as texture is concerned she has the same findings as me (by the way, yes the pictures in that post were taken by me if the same background confuses you. Apart from the swatches, those are hers).

I know I'll get questions about the order, so I might just write about it now. I ordered on Kiko's international site, which ships to certain countries (check here which). They offer Paypal as a payment option. The shipping is expensive if you order under 50 €. It's 8.90 € to Slovenia and it varies from country to country, so it definitely pays to order in bulk because in that case the shipping to Slovenia is only 2€. It took a week for the order to arrive, which is average for shipping inside EU. It was all well packed, nothing got broken and all items I ordered arrived in one box. Overall a good shopping experience, but the shipping costs under 50 € need to be addressed. 

Oh and another thing. Since I posted the order on Instagram I've had a flood of messages asking me if they can join my next order - will I sound too mean if I ask you kindly to stop asking me that? I have no plans of ordering in the near future and I ordered with the other two bloggers because I know them for quite a while, so I know I can truly trust them. It's a huge responsibility for me to organize everything, please be aware of that. I used to do this regularly, but things got messed up once, so I stopped. 

Same goes for potential Boots orders. I hope I don't sound too rude, the last thing I want to do is offend anyone.

Have a great day!

Oh, the 90's trend. It's remarkable what a teenage socialite with a lip job can do to start the whole lip craze in the beauty world, causing my subscription box to overflow with posts aspiring to recreate the look. Now, unlike 95 % of the beauty community, I am not a fan of the trend (nor of the teenager in question). At least of the purple toned natural lip colours such as this one. But that doesn't mean I don't like it on other people and for the sake of experiment as well as let call it "to blend in", I gave it a shot with possibly the cheapest choice out there - Satin Mauve lip liner. 

Satin Mauve is a medium mauve-taupe shade on me. It's a natural colour, almost like a very desaturated violet berry shade. If I use it lightly, it's close to my natural lip colour, but with a strong violet tone. This is the lip colour that when I put it on, I grunted when I looked in the mirror and thought, yeah this is not going to work. The purple-grey tone it has drains my face of colour and make me look too corpsy without ever being a pale nude shade. I've asked for a second and third opinion about this colour on me and they were very conflicting. I've heard the: "No. No, you can't wear this. This is just awful on you" and I also heard: "It's pretty. I like it. It's such a nice natural shade", which was followed by: "It's so much better than that harlot red you wear sometimes (for Slovene readers the word was "pocestniška". Some Slovene words just crack me up) *awkward cricket sound*. Lol. Yeah, we tend to be brutally honest in our family, but it works for us. 

This is of course the case of how it looks against my pale skin tone and I have no doubt that it looks far better on darker skin tones, but then again when I cousin tried it out on her warm NC20-25 complexion, she wasn't too thrilled about how it looks on its own either, but she has seen its potential as a base for other similar lip colours to give them that extra something. I actually like how this shade swatches on my hand, but for some reason it looks very different on the lips and just doesn't work for me (at least I think so). 

Though Essence lip liners are very popular mainly for being non-drying, I find their texture too soft and lipstick-like to be a good formula for a liner. The softness doesn't allow for actual precision, at least the sharp edges are hard to do, but as a lipstick alternative it works. And people are right, it doesn't dry out the lips, but it also smudges (like a creamy lipstick) and doesn't last long (one swipe and it's gone). This softness also means that the pencil needs to be sharpened very often, pretty much after every use, so if you plan to use it as an everyday shade, it won't last long.

So, I gave it a try, but my skin tone dislikes such cool toned purplish shades. I think that for me it just should have some red in it. I heard Nadja from Memento Mori say that the newest liner from Essence's Long Lasting range in Lovely Frappuccino, looks very similar on the lips to the über hyped Mac's Soar and like a good blogger she even did a comparison on the lips. I've tried it in the shop and though the packaging is very deceivingly plain brown, it is indeed a lot more red than Satin Mauve. I'm also tempted by the shade called  Yummy Berry after seeing these swatches on Breath of Colour blog (she has divine pictures, am I right?), I'm just not sure I'll like the texture.  

Essence lip liners cost 1.19 € in Müller.

What do you think about this shade on me? Yay or nay? Have a great day!

TONI AND GUY Sectioning Clips

These were the discovery of the year in 2014. I've always wanted sectioning clips, but I could never find more than a pack of 2 for a completely unreasonable price in our drugstores. Then I resorted to eBay and ordered these for a few euros not expecting much, but the quality of these blew me away. They are made from that "NARS" like rubberised, matte plastic and the spring is a really good one meaning it's not too weak, but neither too tight. I use these every time I blow dry or curl the hair to keep them out of the way as well as to  pin the just blow dried strands in a ring shape to let it cool and in that way create a loose wave. 

I bought mine from this seller.

Pot Nail Polish Removers

A trend that Bourjois started years ago with their Magic Nail Polish Remover and that has now spawned many "dupes", both more affordable and more expensive. The level of brilliance when it comes to these removers still astonishes me and I can barely imagine myself still using the old school remover and cotton pads to remove the nail polish from my fingernails. All you have to do is pop the finger in the pot, swish it around for a while against the foam soaked in remover and it's done. It shaved so much time of removing nail polish, which before was one of my most hated beauty chores. This is truly an amazing beauty invention and I hear some even make their own versions from common household objects. 

BRAUN Silk Epil Xelle Epilator

Another unsung hero of mine and one that has been my trusted companion for about 7 or 8 years. I paid a lot at the time (around 100 €) and it still works perfectly after all this time. TMI moment, I have very dark, strong hair and very pale skin, so you do the math, but I can tell you it's just one of those things that causes me great distress. Shaving lasts about a day or less for me, even so it never does the job completely as the dark dots are still clearly visible against my milky skin, so plucking is the most long lasting and better performing option. I'm not going to say that it doesn't hurt. This one has a massaging rollers attachment, which is supposed to help with the pain, but it's rather gimmicky to be honest, however, the "smartlight" is just brilliant (seriously, get one with the light). I have a high threshold for pain and even I feel a bit of discomfort, but mostly because my hair is so strong (it's a slight burning sensation if you're interested). I gave it to my cousin to try once and she can't even look at it since then that's how painful it was for her. But it's the best way of dealing with the problem for me and it gives me about a week of carefreeness and even in the later days the hair is more sparse. It takes about three weeks for all the hair to grow back, which is not bad, but as I said it's completely smooth for a lot less time because hair grows at different rates. Its main issue is the ingrown hair, but that's a story for another day. 

This version is discontinued, but Braun has many new versions of Silk Epil epilators. I think it's worth investing more into these as mine lasted amazingly long.

RIFFI Body Brush

Jana from Small Bits of Loveliness hooked me up on the whole body brushing business. As I've said before I have a problem with ingrown hair, so I had hopped regular brushing will help alleviate the problem. It turned out to be such a fun and pleasant beauty treatment at the end of the day. The bristles are so soft that the brushing is really pleasant. Apart from exfoliation, there are several other advantages to using a body brush, but you should investigate that yourself if you're interested.

My brush is from Müller for 5.5 €, but these type of brushes are sold in most drugstores.

What are your essential beauty tools? Have a great day!