MAKEUP

ESSENCE I <3 Extreme Volume Mascara Waterproof

This remains my favourite waterproof formula and a favourite mascara overall. I don't know which tube in a row this is so far, but there have been a few. It holds my lashes perfectly curled like I expect from a mascara, it gives a lot of volume and length, the only mini minus is that it could fan out and define a bit nicer, it's the closest to perfect and it's cheap. I'm glad this keeps dodging the discontinuing frenzies by Essence. 

Műller, 2.99 €

CATRICE Liquid Eyeliner

010 Dating Joe Black

My standard repurchase and I still use this formula every day. It's the best liner I've found so far because it's very black, dries matte, has a great applicator and it lasts all day. 

Müller, 3.79 €

PHYSICIANS FORMULA Shimmer Strips All-in-1 Custom Nude Palette 

Warm Nude 

I got this as a birthday gift from my cousin after it's been on my wishlist for years. There are two versions of these Shimmer Strips palette, mine is a warmer one, though both look warm to me (second is called Natural Nude). It's a combination of 12 shimmery-satin shades that can be used in many ways, but PH recommends these methods: 

1. All shades mixed together can be used all over the face for an all-over nude glow. 

2. First row as a highlighter.

3. As eyeshadows: 1th row highlights, 2nd as base 3rd as contour and 4th as eyeliner.

4. Nude contouring with 2nd row as blush and 3+4th row as bronzer. 

PH also added two brushes. A bigger thin brush is surprisingly good because it picks up just enough, the size fits stripes well and it blends ok, while a sponge applicator isn't all that helpful. On the back in a separate compartment is, as is usual for PH, a mirror. 

I've tried it all these ways and it does work as an all over veil if I avoid the bottom row, but it should be applied with a very fluffy brush. As eyeshadows it definitely works well for a warm nude look and gives you a nice level of versatility. As highlighter it's a nice one with a good level of glow. As a blush it's very subtle because only one square has any significant colour for a blush. As a bronzer it's very warm but it would work for warm light skin tones. 

Overall I'm happy with this. It is very close to a proper all-in-one product. I tend to use it as an eyeshadow palette, a highlighter and occasionally as a blush, but as I said it's too light for any significant flush. 

iHerb, $10.44

*BOURJOIS Rouge Fabuleux

07 Perlimpinpink

Bourjois launched a new range of lipsticks following their fantastic matte Rouge Velvet The Lipsticks. This is their newest creamy formula, which I don't know if they are replacing their Rouge Edition or not, but the formula is different. These drew me at the drugstore because the shade range looked so wearable and every day appropriate, and I wish their Velvet lipsticks had these shades. Formula feels exactly the same as Velvets at application, meaning it has that super slippery, buttery texture, however, it unlike Velvets has a creamy finish. Packaging is the same tube as Velvets except in black. 07 Perlimpinpink is a warm bubble gum pink.

12.99 €

 *DEBORAH MILANO Double Effect Volume & Length Mascara

My first mascara with a wand that can be transformed. On step 1 it's a plastic wand with bristles placed in parallel rows, but on step 2 it becomes shorter and pulls the bristles closer together creating a spiral pattern. I prefer the step 2 because step 1 doesn't create a nice fanned out effect as it starts to clump lashes together and doesn't separate them as nicely, but step two does it much better. In terms of volume it doesn't matter on which setting you have it, both do about the same. Formula is not my favourite. While it's nicely black and it doesn't smudge, it makes my lashes hard and it also doesn't keep them up, so the hit my glasses and with stiff lashes it's very obnoxious. But it creates quite large lashes because the formula is thick, it just doesn't hold my lashes up so that volume is barely visible on me. 

DM, 7.99 €

*RIMMEL Wonder'Swipe 2-in-1 Liner to Shadow

001 Slay

I think this is the right name of the shade because it's nowhere on the bottle, but it's a silver metallic eyeliner with quite a good colour pay-off for a colour liner, though at my shade most of the "colour" is densely packed shimmer. It applies nicely, like a good regular liner, so I have no problems with it skipping parts of not being able to draw a wing, but it could be more intense. The silver feels a bit underwhelming on my eyelids, maybe because there not enough contrast with my grey eyes, but in terms of quality, it's an ok eyeliner. As an eyeshadow, it sheers out a lot and what's left is a gentle haze of the grey base colour and you're left with a lot shimmer. It promises to be transfer proof, but some shimmer does end up in my create, though it doesn't smudge or move on the lids. The price is crazy high, over 8 € for which I expect exceptional quality and this could be better.  

DM, 8.79 €

*ORIFLAME The One Eyes Wide Open & Awake mascara

This has quite a unique shape of the brush, it's almost like a pear shaped. It's not making a difference compared to a regular brush, so it's a gimmick, but it doesn't clump the lashes and separates them adequately. The formula is much lighter than the Deborah one, so effect with one coat it more natural and it takes time to build this one up to proper volume. Still I prefer it to Deborah because it's lighter, it leaves my lashes soft and it's easier to remove. It doesn't hold my lashes up at all, so the effect is hardly visible on me, but I've been using it almost every day since I got it because I currently have nothing better in my stash. 

In the current catalogue the packaging is violet-pink with a price 12.90 € 

*ORIFLAME The One Eyebrow Kit 

I don't use eyebrow products so I'm skipping on trying this one, but it's a pretty nifty kit for on the go. You get an eyebrow wax, two shades of brow powder which look cool-ish to me, a mini mirror and in a compartment bellow you also get two mini brushes. 

Oriflame, 11.90€

*L.O.V. RoyalLASH Superior Strength & Volume Lash Primer

This promises to make your lashes 3x stronger and more voluminous after 30 days. I haven't seen improvement, but I haven't committed to using this daily. It's completely white on the lashes and applies nicely with no clumps. It doesn't make the mascara application any more difficult (unless it's quite dry) and in my before/after on the Instagram Stories you can see that this does add a good level of extra volume.

Ličila.si, 13.99 €

*L.O.V. EYEttraction Magnetic Loose Eyeshadow

N.510 METALfusion

I like this a lot and I've already included it in my last monthly favourites. I tried them a few times in the shop, but it's only now that I'm properly trying it out that I'm impressed. I think I like them more that all those Colourpop/Essence Melted Chrome/Catrice type of formulas. It's a drier, but similar version as those and I just find it sticks better to the lids and I get an intense metallic coat without having to build it up much. I apply it with fingers so I get a lot of colour on quickly and then blend the edges with a fluffy blush and I'm done. I enjoy the shade a lot, it's one of those classic taupes that I have tons of dupes for now, but the shimmer is much finer than the one is Colourpop or Essence eyeshadows so I prefer it. It's on my eyes on the pictures with the highlighting drops below. I give this formula two thumbs up. 

€ 6.99

 *L.O.V. LOVglow Highlighting Drops

020 Sunlight Glow

I think was a limited edition because I can't find it anywhere apart from on kosmetik4less.de website. It isn't the best highlighter because it ends up weak on the skin, instead it's a much better glowy primer. It's got that type of light formula that doesn't feel greasy and neither too matte, plus the shimmer is very fine in this, so it a good product to either apply on the skin under foundation or mixed in the foundation. The shade Sunlight Glow is a yellow gold that if it was more pigmented I wouldn't be able to wear, but since it's so translucent it's fine. The packaging bothers me at this and a pump would be better. It's got a pipette, but it's not easy picking up much product, maybe because the formula is too thick, I'm forced to scrape the product from the outside of the pipette. 

10.95 €

*L.O.V. LOVicious Caring Volume Gloss

N.100 Mystic Sand

I like the formula of this one, though it's not that special. It's a nice comfy formula with medium colour pay-off and a thicker formula than average lip gloss formula. Like most it's not sticky and I didn't notice it bleeding. The colour is a good wearable nude that would fit most. 

€ 5.99

*MAX FACTOR Colour Elixir Lip Gloss

25 Enchanting Coral

Love at first try, but that pretty much happens with all Max Factor glosses to me and I also already featured this in my monthly favourites. It's a less thick version of Honey Lacquer formula and also with a more sheer effect. Formula is like a comfortable cushion on the lips, so my lip balm substitute and they still have that lovely vanilla scent they had over a decade ago in their silly glosses. I wasn't thrilled when I saw this in my parcel because it's a coral and coral tend to look so orange and unwearable on me, but this one is very pretty, a nice pinky-peachy sheer shade. I've already wore this a lot.

*RIMMEL Provocalips 16HR Kiss Proff Lip Colour

710 Kiss-off

This is one of the most long-lasting lip products I've ever tried. It's so hard to get it off and I still had some on the next day. The colour layer is similar to matte liquid lipstick, but it dries slower, while the top coat is a clear gloss like product that eventually sets and pretty much cements the colour on the lips. Regardless of such a staying power, I didn't find this drying - not that I usually do when it comes to lipstick. It's a shame though that this shade is soo not me. It's an almost pastel, yet medium-toned orange, so I don't like myself with it. I've went to check other shades we have if I find something more wearable for me, but we only have three and I like none. I like lipsticks at which I don't have to care if it's still one and this one survived a Bacon Rosti which is probably the greasiest thing McDonalds sells, so it's a shame we don't have all the colours available.  

DM, 8.49 €

 ESSENCE The Gel Nail Polish

98 Pure Beauty, 56 You and me? And 21 A Whisper of Spring

These are being discontinued and replaced by ones in a much uglier and too me less practical packaging, as the new cap looks hard to hold compared to these old ones. Before they are gone I had to pick a backup of my favourite 98 Pure Beauty which I'm running low on as it's one of my most worn nail polishes and in the spur of the moment I grabbed two more shades. 56 You and me is one of the most popular shades I believe, but it always looked so ugly in the bottle (too cool for my skin tone) so I've been avoiding it for so long and now I genuinely regret not picking it earlier. This is one of the prettiest muted powder mauve-pinks I've ever seen and it's much warmer on the nails than the colour in the bottle indicates. I got 21 A Whisper of Spring because I have no pastel violet shades and this one actually ends ups in between a pastel pink and violet on me. I love all the shades and are so worth picking up now that they are about to go.

Müller, 0.99 €

ECOTOOLS Wonder Colour Finish Blush & Contour Brush

Another birthday gift and another product that has been on my wishlist for a while. It's a medium sized, very dense and soft brush that Ecotools recommends for blush and contour. It's nice for contouring because the size is just right and it stiff enough to blend, but for blush I find it's just a bit too stiff. Honestly I expected the bristles are a bit longer, so this would be more fluffy and due to being quite dense I find it's better for creamy textures, including foundations, which is what for I've been using for it instead. 

iHerb, $6.99

SKIN CARE 

 *THE BODY SHOP Drops of Youth Concentrate Sheet Mask

This peaked my interest when I saw it in the parcel. I always like to try an new sheet mask and this one looks intriguing because the ingredients are actually the same as the Youth Serum, at least the list is the same, but I don't know about the concentrations. It's a very expensive sheet mask so I did expect a lot, but I wasn't that blown away by it.

Sheet: Sadly TBS decided on a very thick and stiff material for the sheet, which absorbs a lot of the product (you get a massive 21 ml in this, but it feels much drier than most Asian sheet masks). It's not a very comfortable mask on the face due to that and it starts to dry fast, but the cut outs are well placed and it's not very big, which is more of a good news for those who are petite like me.

Essence: formula is light, like a classic clear serum and it leave some stickiness when it dries.

Scent: this is heavily fragranced, though that primary cosmetic chemical scent is pleasant to my nose. It's the heavy whiffs of alcohol that bother me, mainly because it makes me uneasy with how much of the stuff they packed in this mask. It's 2nd on the list after water and unfortunately on my currently dry skin this had an effect. 

Effect: Immediate effect was more evenly toned and fresher skin, but where the mask was creased, my skin was creased too, which from a mask that promises a youthful effect (by that I assume plumping) is not what I expected. By the morning my skin felt dry and I had a few dry flakes on my forehead and the rest of the effects weren't visible any more. This was my first time trying the Drops of Youth line and I don't think it's for me, but I love their Oils of Life oil, which is high on my wishlist.

Ingredients: here.

The Body Shop, 5.90 €

BODY

 *THE BODY SHOP Cactus Blossom

Shower gel, Exfoliating gel body scrub and body butter

Something new for this season from TBS. I've got to say Cactus Blossom is not a scent I ever expected from TBS, but it is very unique. It's fresh and just a bit floral-fruity sweet, but mostly it smells to me almost a bit herbal. It reminds me of L'Occitane's discontinued Angelica line. It's not my favourite TBS scent, but it's fine. The shower gel is a classic one, I actually only tried their creamy formula and I prefer them to this because it's more luxurious feeling, but this is just fine too. The body butter is a classic, again brilliant nourishing texture and well worth investing in. The Exfoliating Gel body scrub is a new thing to me. For a scrub this is very weak, even though the scrubby particles are not just the big visible bits, but there are also micro particles that are the ones actually doing the job. To me this is just another version of a shower gel.

Shower gel 6.50 € | Exfoliating gel body scrub 19.90 € | Body butter 17.50 €

AVON Bubble Bath

Bubble Gum

This smells just like you'd expect, like Bazooka bubble gum. I have yet to try it proper in a bath, but I couldn't wait to find time for it, so I used it as a shower gel so I could enjoy the scent. I had one of these before and I was very disappointed with the amount of bubbles. Maybe this one will be different.

Avon, regular price 7.90 €

AVEO Intensive Care Duschől

I've been using these for washing my hands since sometime last year. Less drying than regular liquid soap and it suits me better.

Müller, 1.95 €

SUBRINA Shower Gel

Cherry Blossom and Rose Garden

My by now standard repurchase. These are so cheap per ml when I buy them in Spar, they do their job, they come in such nice scent and one some of the rare ones that leave behind a fragrance for several hours. Of course the heavier fragrance is a not for everyone, especially those with sensitive skin, but scent is an important factor at beauty products for me. Cherry Blossom is a lovely powdery floral that is the favourite of many and Rose Garden, which I got instead of my usual Perfume Drops, is an amazing floral scent for those who hate granny rose fragrance because this is very different.

Interspar, 1.79 € (400 ml)

AVON Luck For Her Perfumed Deodorant Spray

Another birthday gift. I have the La Vie version of Luck which I love and this is the original version of the scent. It's much sweeter, less fresh version with the main notes of sweet red berries and sandalwood. Other notes include bergamot and white flowers, but this is overall a lot less complicated scent as La Vie, which is my favourite of the two. It's not a unique scent, but it's a nice simple, every day fragrance and thought the notes don't mention it, I get pure pineapple immediately after spraying it. I have the deodorant version, which sadly doesn't last long, less than an hour.   

Avon, regular price 14.50 €

HAIR

OLAPLEX n.3

I already talked a lot about this in my monthly favourites. I've recently bleached my hair and Olaplex or any other bond builder is a must if you want to keep your hair as healthy as you can. This only step 3 out of 5. First two are proper salon products, one is mixed with bleach and the other applied at rinsing which is almost the same as this number 3, except with a higher concentration of Bis-Aminopropyl Diglycol Dimaleate. Number 3 is the one they sell as a maintainer and is meant for wider consumption, as are 4 and 5 which are a shampoo and conditioner. Olaplex's Bis-Aminopropyl Diglycol Dimaleate fixes the disulfide bonds that get broken during bleaching. I still don't I believe this fixes any significant damage that's already happened and indeed of course this didn't fix my broken and spit ends from before, but I do think it maybe fixes minor crack that might get worse and more importantly protects the hair from further damage. I fully expected that this tiny bottle with only a 100 ml was going to last me two uses at most, but surprisingly I only used about a 1/5 of the bottle and I really went to town with it. The formula is so easy to spread, it's no problem coating all the hair with minimal amount of product. It also is completely unscented. I apply it on washed damp hair and put on a shower cap - they don't say to do this, but I have it on for a few hours and I want to prevent it from drying out because then it probably wouldn't work as well later on (recommended time is at least 10 minutes, but the longer it's on, the better results). This isn't a conditioner and you need to follow up with shampoo and a mask/conditioner after, so I expected that like at Joico K-Pack Reconstructor I won't even notice I used anything, but this left my hair with that silky feeling as I was rinsing it off. I used my usual L'Oréal Extraordinary Oil shampoo and L'Oréal Professionnel Absolut Repair Lipidum mask that contains Phyto-keratin (as well as lipids and ceramides) that strengthen the hair. Plus I also use Redken Anti-Snap for additional protein treatment. I've done several dyeing and bleaching sessions in the past months and my hair still feels the same as it did before all this experimenting, so I find Olaplex does what it promises. I will continue using it and if you lighten, bleach or colour you hair (to a lighter shade than natural colour) regularly it's not a bad idea to invest in one of these type of products, but if you don't, I don't see the point in getting this unless your hair is very damaged and you really want to try it. However, I'd first get a good protein treatment like Anti-Snap and a mask instead. 

Spletična, 21.50 €

 ICE CREAM No-Yellow Shampoo

I'm not a proper blonde yet, so getting this was a bit premature, but I do have some blonder bits on the bottom layers where my hair is thin and it was as expected quite yellow, so I grabbed this in DM to tone it. It's quite fun to use because this is like a dark violet ink when you squeeze it out. I accidentally stained my curtain with this when I turned my hair, so you need to be careful with it. It lathers well and it's easy to spread all over the hair. I leave it on while I shower, so a few minutes and it rinses off completely. Since most of my hair is dark blonde level 7 on the hair chart, I'd actually need a blue shampoo to tone the orange hues (I used L'Oreal's Preference 8.1 for that), so this only worked on those paler blonde hair I have as expected. I've used this on a strand of hair I bleached all the way to pale yellow and this toned the yellow tone a lot, so if you're a pale blonde, this is a nice formula to try, though I hear L'Oreal recently launched their violet shampoo and mask which might be cheaper. It's not terribly drying but neither moisturising, so I think it should work for all hair types. It smells a bit like grapes.

DM, 9.99 €

 SCHWARZKOPF Blond Me Premium Developer 6% and Bond Enforcing Premium Lightener 9+

I've also already talked a lot about this in my monthly favourites, but the gist is this: it's is a high quality bleach that left my hair with no damage. I did apply coconut oil prior and I only have a 6% developer because that's what Amazon had (I regret not getting a 9% or a 12% from another place as they would be a better choice for my thick, dark hair. I stupidly wanted to avoid more shipping costs). I picked Blondme after an extensive research because it has an added bond builder (something like Olaplex that prevents the bonds between keratin plates from being dissolved, therefore prevent significant damage) and because I read many reviews saying it got even those with very dark hair to platinum blonde in one try (like I said it works with a 12% on dark hair, while with a 6% it got me a few shades down). Aside from no damage, it didn't make my hair drier, it doesn't smell like bleach much (it actually has a floral scent) and it got on my skin numerous times and it felt like nothing, so this is definitely a bleach I'm very comfortable using. There's an added measuring spoon in the bleach powder packaging. By the way, despite the fact it's blue, you need to get a toner to use afterwards. I also do not recommend using this alone at home, unless you're really knowledgeable about bleaching, hair levels and underlying pigments. I did it myself only after several months of research and I really did the balayage myself, with a help of several mirrors, a camera and a smartphone. I'm happy with the results, even though it didn't got as light as I hoped due to a weaker developed, also no one said anything bad about my hair colour yet (you can see it in my monthly favourites).

Amazon, 23.38 € for bleach powder (400 g), 9.93 € for developer (1000 ml)

L'OREAL Récital Préférence 

8.1 Copenhague

I'm a big fan of Excellence (seriously, the more box dyes I try, the more I see how utterly brilliant it is), so I wanted to see how the slightly more expensive Preference fares. I got this shade to tone after bleaching because it's got ultra-cool tones and I've heard good things about this shade in particular. This is the strongest smelling colour I've tried. I'm really not sensitive to smells, but this knocked me down and made my eyes water, so it was this big minus from the start. Number two is that the colour part is a liquid and not a cream. While it doesn't drip, it's got a consistency similar to an egg when you mix it with the developer and the colour slides of the brush when I tried to pick it up (I always use a pot and a brush instead of these applicator bottles because it's a lot more precise). One colour also felt like it had less product that Excellence, but I managed to spread it enough using a comb and fingers. In terms of toning it did a fantastic job on the lightest hair which were medium yellow (level 8-9), but obviously it couldn't tone out the more orange parts, so I regret not taking 7.1, but it's fine. The well-toned parts are now nice very cool blonde, almost a bit silvery. It did not leave my hair feeling as fantastic as Excellence does, nor is the conditioner better than that one, so I'm definitely sticking to Excellence and I'm not going to buy this one again (they have the same shades in both lines anyway).

DM, 8.99 €

*WELLA Eimi Dry Me Dry Shampoo

You know what the deal is with me and dry shampoos - my hair is never greasy, it only gets drier the longer I don't wash it and dry shampoos something I use to merely refresh the hair and not absorb oil. Hence I can't tell you if this one is good. It didn't notice any white cast, but I didn't use a lot of it and it didn't leave a powdery feeling. The fragrance is nicely fruity. 

Have a great day!