THE BODY SHOP Adjusting Drops

Lightening

Finally, something that's actually works great at making the foundation shade lighter. As someone whose skin tone can be described as milky, I struggle to find a shade match for me, but finding a great shade and a great formula is even more difficult - though I have some, they have just a bit more coverage than what I like for every day. These drops work with every foundation I own. They can lighten considerably, but at the same time don't mess with the texture, finish or staying power of the foundation. There is a slight pinky undertone present which suits me so well because I have a neutral undertone and most my dark foundations are too yellow, so this also neutralises them. The only complaint I have - it is big, though - is the packaging, which makes these hard to use, but I manage. 

BOURJOIS Radiance Reveal Concealer

Like always it's only when you're trying to use things up or trying new products that you get that "wow feeling" as soon as you return to your all-time favourites. I needed to put this one aside for a while because my Collection and Nars concealer where getting old and I needed to use them up, but this is seriously such a brilliant concealer. It looks so much more natural than others, it never looks heavy or cakey on the skin, but it covers enough for my needs - I've never been a fan of porcelain doll perfect skin effect anyway, I want my skin to like like skin. It also smells so nice.

THEBALM Meet Matte Hughes

Committed

I'm in the midst of preparing a My favourite lipsticks post and this is of course in it. It's one of the shades that I just grab without thinking because it always looks good, it lasts well, isn't drying on my lips and is easy to apply. These are my favourite liquid lipsticks, but this shade in particular is my favourite because it's an everyday muted peachy-pink nude shade that's so much more complex than what I managed to describe it as. I have my eye on shade Sincere which I think might be similar but less warm.

THE FACE SHOP Disney Snow White Brightening Face Mask Pack

I swear my skin just changed from the day I used this. I've been having a "lame skin year(s)" because I do what I always do and don't repurchase my favourites, since they are too expensive, aside from being sent PR products that aren't chosen with my careful and lengthy research, so my skin just always looked wrong and every foundation started to look bad too. This acted like a sort of a reset button. It's like the condition of my skin shifted back to how well it looked two years ago, though not perfect, but much better than in the last year. This mask is a limited edition version, but it's still available on eBay, Tester Korea,.... It's a described as a brightening mask and among ingredients is nianciamide which should be able to do just that. Also included is pearl powder, which I'm not sure if there is any science behind its effects. The fit of it is nice, especially around the eyes, the essence was kind of slimy, but my skin absorbed almost everything and there was no sticky feeling left behind. By the morning my skin was dry to the touch. My skin was left baby soft, it hasn't felt that way in years, it was completely hydrated, my foundation applied so much nicer that day and my skin looked more healthy, even my circles looked less red than usual, but it didn't help my skin tone look that more even and my old blemish mark as well as freckles looked the same. I loved the effects a lot, it's much better than other masks I've used so far (which aren't many: Innisfree, Balea, Mooya and Intelligent Skin Therapy). 

Since it's a LE, I checked what other TFS mask is similar and I think it's their Solutions Brightening, but it has a lot of alcohol.

COSRX Acne Pimple Master Patch

I'm a bit angry that I didn't know about these for so long because I've been without an effective spot treatment since Essence stupidly decided to discontinue their double roll-on treatment many years ago and replaced it with that Ediks looking crap. I threw away several products from other brands because they didn't do anything, but these pathces actually work. Finally something! They are packed like you're buying some vitally important medical equipment - seriously this has like four layers of plastic and you get 24 patches in various sizes. You know that time of the month is not complete without a volcano erupting somewhere on your face, with me is always on my chin and it's one of those that just won't go away for a week and it leaves a blemish mark from hell that won't go away for a year, which in the constant cycle means never. This patch made it smaller by 90% overnight, it really does pull out all most of the nastiness, but the spot completely disappeared in the next days with the help of other COSRX products. So far these are most effective spot treatment I've tried. Completely worth picking these up.

ESTEE LAUDER Advanced Night Repair Synchronised Recovery Complex II

I've actually had this since spring last year and I've stupidly been using it sporadically because it's very expensive and I wanted to save it. Big mistake! Of course I didn't see results that way and I started blaming it on the revamped formula. Yeah, I'm often wrong. But since it's already almost a year old, I finally started using it every day without fail and combined with the before mentioned TFS mask and  COSRX BHA Blackhead Liquid that I'm using every three days, my skin completely transformed. It's just better in every respect. It looks less congested, it's smoother, softer and less "blah" looking. The only problem left is that it's dry and it still lacks elasticity. As I said it's expensive and it's not that I can't afford a new bottle, it's more that I'm a terrible miser and I find it slightly insulting when someone charges me a lot for a product that is used up in a few months, so I might try its dupe Missha's Time Revolution Ampoule (or when I finally realise my mistake, cave and buy this again).

SOAP & GLORY Orangeasm Body Butter

This already landed in my favourites and I'm still enjoying using it a lot, since my skin is currently very dry. It's such a lovely body moisturiser that's nourishing, but not too thick and actually most of it sinks in quite fast, so you don't feel all greasy before going to bed. I'm also loving the scent more and more. It's a lemon citrusy scent, but not that classic zesty cosmetic scent, it's much more natural and bitter fresh. It contains some bright coral beads that contain shea butter which makes it a bit more special.

Coverage: In terms of coverage, it about a medium to high. Again similar to Collection's and Nars', but less, since on some spots I need to apply an additional layer, which doesn't always end up that nice. You can see on my before after comparison that it didn't quite manage to cover my extra dark circle under one eye (I don't know why just one, it's not the lighting in the picture. My life is weird), but it's nice for moderate circles. Also a red mark from an old blemish next to my lips wasn't completely covered. On the pictures I'm only wearing the concealer, so no extra foundation.

Shade: The colour I got is 005, which was added later and I'm so glad it was. It's about the same shade as Collection 1 Fair, except it's got a yellow undertone. It's about NC13 and it applies slightly orange, but blends out to a more neutral shade. As a comparison L.A. Girls Pro Conceal in Porcelain swatches more orange, but it's similar in lightness, Bourjois Radiance Reveal in 01 Ivory is cooler, more peachy, NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly is 2 shades lighter, Collection Concealer in 1 Fair is a cool version of the shade and Maybelline Fit Me in 15 Fair is a shade darker. Picture was taken a few minutes after these were applied, so they are oxidised and the undertones are more apparent.

Staying power: It doesn't last as well as Collection and Nars. Those two have a more matte finish, so they stick better on the skin. Still you get good half-day+ wear, it also depends on the base you're using and if you use powder (I don't).

Packaging: It's a classic concealer in a tube with a doe foot applicator. The latter works fine and there is enough product on it for one use. Both caps of Nars and Collection broke, so I'm really hoping this one fares better. So far it's looking good.

Price and availability: It's sold in drugstores for 3.79€.

This won't give you complete full coverage, however, in combination with an already medium-high coverage foundation you'll get there for sure. It's light, yet it has plenty of pigmentation, it's also less matte than Collection's making it better suited for under the eyes. I find that it can look cakey once layered, but it's also because the colour doesn't fit me exactly right in a thicker coat. There aren't many comparable products in Slovene drugstores, I hear Essence's new concealer is similar, but covers less, so if you need something that's nice and covers well, this is a good buy and I already featured Catrice's concealer in my previous favourites. But my all-time favourite still remain Bourjois Radiance Reveal and Collection's just for spots.

Have a great day!

As much as paleness is promoted to be embraced, there is one little hitch when it comes to deciding to stay pale and not invest the time in either sunbathing or self-tanning - there are only a handful of foundation shades on the market that are actually very light. The companies themselves are almost completely ignoring us pale ladies, so I can only thank some higher force that The Body Shop not only created a product that lightens any foundation formula, but also doesn't make the foundation suck by altering the texture. For years I had to mix my crappy pale foundations (most I own have a lame formula) with my good dark foundations, creating a sort of barely passable mix of textures (but perfect shades) and now I finally have something that works much better. I've already done a complete review of Catrice's Transforming Drops in Lightening, which are the cheaper option, but I advise all porcelain princesses like me to just shell out a bit more and get The Body Shop ones. I had these on my wishlist since I first saw them, but due to The Body Shop being complete dicks we still don't have a (online) shop here (I've been waiting for 10 years already) and it's only thanks to my lovely reader Oana from Not Just Makeup that I finally got my hands on these. 

Texture: These aren't some super light "Catrice HD Liquid Coverage foundation" formula as you might imagine at the name drops. The texture is more like a medium thick liquid foundation which is why the packaging for this formula really isn't good. If you blend them on the skin, they feel a bit thick and set fast, also it's like they don't have a lot of silicones, but none of these characteristics affect the texture of foundation they are being mixed with. By the way these have no scent.

Shade: While they appear white, the trick of these is that they have a slight pastel pink hue. To me that's a genius move, because other white such products I tried made the foundations look almost greyish and strange, while these drops neutralise strong yellow and that is exactly what I need, not just lightening, but also neutralising. I've always mixed my pink foundations with yellow ones to get a neutral undertone, so these drops really were made for me. However, I have one pink foundation, L'Oreal Infallible Matte in Porcelain which obviously mixed with the drops retains its cool tone, so for me a better colour combination is with the yellow Transformer drops by Catrice, but I can still wear it fine with TBS.

Performance: I've been using these pretty much every day since I got them, tried them with all my foundations and these work great. They lighten the foundation significantly with a small amount of product, but even if you add a bit more it still works the same. These don't alter the texture of foundation, nor their finish or their staying power like Catrice's drops do. 

I used a small drop with these foundations for the swatches: 

MILANI Conceal + Perfect 2-in-1 Foundation + Concealer 01 Creamy Vanilla - it makes it a lot more neutral and lightens it for two shades to about NC15-20. I need to use a lot of drops to lighten this one because the shade is so dark and it's still a bit too yellow, but passable. It doesn't affect the texture at all and let me tell you this is one of the most beautiful foundations ever. 

BEYU Nutri Power Foundation 15 - it makes it peachier and lightens it to NC/W15-20. This one is already perfectly wearable for me with the drops.

ESSENCE Instant Matt foundation 10 Matt Ivory - it makes it much less orange and lightens it to NC 15. I intensely dislike this foundation on its own and with the drops.

CATRICE HD Liquid Coverage Foundation 010 Light Beige - makes it slightly pinker and lightens to NC/W15. This combination works a million times better than with Catrice's Transforming Drops. I actually think it makes the foundation itself a bit better.

L'OREAL Infallible 24H Matte Foundation 10 Porcelain - keeps it pink, but lightens it to NW15. The foundation retains its awesome pore hiding abilities and a wearable matte finish. I can wear it despite being pink, but Catrice drops make it more neutral for me (also less matte).

BOURJOIS Healthy Mix Serum foundation 51 Light Vanilla - neutralises the yellow undertone, and makes it a NC10. I only need a tiny amount with this because it can quickly make it too light.
I didn't include it here, but I also mixed it with Bourjois' 123 Perfect CC Cream. Again it lightened it enough to NCW10-15, kept it fairly neutral and didn't affect its natural finish.

Packaging: As much as I love the colour and performance of these drops, I find the packaging remarkably stupid and it makes my morning routine less pleasant. The dropper doesn't really work and it doesn't suck up the product because it's too thick. I end up squeezing the dropper a million times and shaking the bottle like crazy, but more often than not I get nothing, occasionally I get a drop of product. So my method is to scrape the product from the dropper on my hand and only then add foundation. This really needs to be repackaged into a classic foundation bottle with a pump.

Price and availability: These cost 14 € for 15 ml in The Body Shop. It's not terribly expensive considering you don't need that much product at once, but it's not the cheapest. I find it's one of the best investments I've made and it already landed in my All-time favourites.

I really recommend these, especially to those who are struggling to find a pale enough foundation. They are more than capable to lighten foundations for several shades, they don't affect the texture, staying power and they neutralise yellow undertones (the latter might not be such a good thing for those with a strong yellow undertone, keep that in mind as well). But be ready for daily struggles with the bottle. 

Have a great day!

Most of the lip products I have from BeYu are described matte, but none impressed me as this one and that's because it actually is their only properly matte product. I have several such jumbo lip pencils and these are my favourites because they do everything I want: they have an excellent matte finish, great pigmentation and good lasting power. There are several shades available, I got one of the shades that I instantly liked, but there are a few that peaked my interest too. Non matte version of such pencils exists as well.

Texture: This is what I wanted Essence's Velvet Sticks to be. Pigmentation is excellent and the finish is properly matte, actually one of the best I've seen in a non-liquid lipstick. It applies easily without dragging and doesn't emphasise the uneven texture of the lips. To me it's not drying, but I have heard complaints, so get this only if you truly love matte finishes. 

Colour: My shade Dusty Rose is a muted peachy shade with some rosy tones. I've been wearing a lot recently because it's so easy to apply nicely and because it's a peach that doesn't look orange on me, so it a very easy to wear colour. It's a type of colour that it's very possible will look more pink-rosy on darker skin tones.

Staying power: This last excellently on the lips, way longer in fact that other BeYu lip products I've tried as well as my other chunky lip pencils I own (with a notable exception of Golden Rose's, but I only own dark shades). I'm impressed. It's the type of product that when you apply on the lips, you can't just wipe it off with a dry tissue if you change your mind and want to switch colour.

Packaging: These are exactly the same size as Essence's Velvet Sticks. They are neither too thick so they would be very difficult to apply precisely and neither too thin that it would take too long to apply. However, once the tip gets blunt you won't get much precision, luckily these aren't too soft and you don't need to sharpen them very often. They fit standard Essence double sharpeners. 

Price and availability: The price is 7.99 € in Slovene DM's. 

When it comes to BeYu lip products these are the winners from me. They are exactly what I hoped every other "matte" lip jumbo pencil promised to be, but wasn't. I would like to get more shades, however, if you're one of those with lips sensitive to drying out, you might want to pass on the matte version.

*PR product

Cosmetic companies sure love to reinvent the most basic products in a million ways. I didn't even notice this among the new Catrice lip products, as anything with shine in the name I usually just skip, but this Lip Dresser lipstick is basically Catrice's Supreme Fusion lipstick (which I again didn't even notice got discontinued. I'm already bored with constant changes), except this time it's in a less convenient packaging, but the product is still good.

Texture: This is classic semi-opaque lip colour with a glossy finish. It's really absolutely nothing new or exciting, it's just a lipstick for those who have dry lips and aren't afraid of potential smudging. Catrice does them well and for a decent price.

Colour:  This formula is available in six shades. I have 060 Surf and Turf in Grapetown which is a warm burgundy shade, so a deep red shade that's very much a true red. Bourjois Plum Russian is more berry as is Catrice's Remarry Berry. 

Staying Power: Here we have a deep shade in a glossy formula, so obviously you neither get the extra good staying power, but it also doesn't just disappear from the lips. If you don't eat or drink a lot, it can even settle into a stain that lasts longer.

Packaging: I'm not loving the packaging. I don't mind it's thin, but the winding mechanism isn't my favourite. It has a clicker button which pushes the product out, like some concealers, but that also means you can't push it back. I don't understand why they decided on such a mechanism.

Price and availability: It's sold in drugstores for 4.99 €.

*PR product.

BeYu has several matte lip products in their selection, like Color Biggies (my favourite) and regular mat lipsticks, but these are their version of liquid lipsticks. I wouldn't call these completely classical for their category, but you still get a very pigmented lip colour that's comfortable to wear. 

Texture: Formula is quite literally a mousse and similar to Bourjois' Nude-ist (just that shade from the range, as almost every one is different). This creates a special type of matte finish that to me looks more natural than most matte liquid lipsticks, but unlike Nude-ist this doesn't set as matte in time (you can try blotting it for a matte effect). Pigmentation is great and only one coat is needed. 

Colour: Smooth Marsala is a muted coral shade. It's a lot brighter and more red than Nyx's Cannes which is the closest shade in my pre-existing collection. Their Colour Biggie pen in Dusty Rose is already much closer, but less red. Marsala isn't the best name for it because it's neither brown nor rosy-red enough.

Scent: It smells like vanilla yogurt.

Staying power: this disappointed me most at this product. Normally lip creams last ages on the lips, but this one is gone after about three hours. On the other hand, it's a lot more comfortable to wear for those who often have dry lips. However, I tested the vampy shade in the shop and I couldn't even scrub it off my skin, so it's very likely staying powers differs from shade to shade.

Packaging: The tube is almost exactly the same as Makeup Factory's Mat Lip Fluid, so a square tube with a rubberised cap. The applicator is great, soft and a good cut shape to fit the contours of the lips. It holds enough product for one application.

Price and availability: These cost 11.99 € in Slovene DM's.

This is a matte lip cream for those who don't like such products because they find them drying. The mousse formula sets much slower on the lips and it's not that type of completely matte lip product, but again don't expect any care from these. It also transfers a lot, so bear it in mind you don't get to be as carefree with this as with other matte lip creams. The most disappointing characteristic is the staying power, otherwise it's decent lip cream, but I much prefer their matte Biggies.

*PR product.