MAX FACTOR Creme Puff Blush

20 Lavish Mauve

I had major doubts these will ever reach Slovenia, but they did. The price is higher than I expected and they really "spoiled" us with the selection of four shades, but at least they decided to include the one I had my eye on from the start. Lavish Mauve was the least shimmery and coolest out of the four. I thought it's similar to Catrice's Nuts About You, but when I swatched them side by side, they revealed to be very different, as Lavish Mauve is a much cooler, pink-mauve-violet shade with tiny duo chrome violet-gold shimmer, which I can't see on the cheeks. It's soft and decently pigmented, but I don't get that famous "glow" on my cheeks with this one, just a classic flush. You'll see how it looks in my review, but if you want to see it sooner, since I need to take pictures of Lovely Pink before, I can put a quick picture on Instagram.

Müller, 12.79 €

*05 Lovely Pink

Just today Max Factor surprised me by sending me another shade completely out of the blue. Lovely Pink was the second shade on my list and I remember from the swatches I made in the shop that this one was one of the more glowy ones. It is indeed more glowy on the cheek as Lavish Mauve, though I just got it today and I spent two hours in a hot car before trying it, but I could see that small shimmer reflecting on my cheek. It's a warm pink shade and the shimmer is gold.

*MAX FACTOR Colour Intensifying Balm

30 Redefined Rose

Another new release by MF and the other part of my surprise package. It is, as described, an intense lip balm, well in terms of colour that is, and it features a nice moisturising formula. Redefined Rose looks absolutely gorgeous in the packaging, but the colour on my lips surprised me, as it's lighter and a bit cooler pink than I expected - it actually reminds me of how Creme Cup looks on my lips, but I'm sure it's my neutral skin tone that gives it that hue as it looks much warmer of other people's swatches. The pigmentation is better than expected and it's semi opaque with one or two coats, but it can be built-up to pretty much full opacity. I have no doubts this colour will be universally loved.

CATRICE Longlasting Lip Pencil

030 Berryson Ford

I saw this lip liner on Sara's blog and it was this shade from that post that appealed to me most. It's a deep berry-burgundy colour that reminds me of shades like L'Oreal's Laetitia, Bourjois Grand Cru and Catrice's lip liner in Love the Way you Plum. This shade is like a mix of all three I mentioned, so it's a very autumnal/winter colour.

Müller, 2.29 €

ESSENCE Longlasting Lipliner 

05 Lovely Frappuccino

Everyone is going gaga for this liner and Nadja even found it being very similar to the very coveted Soar lip liner. I have been avoiding it for a long time because I'm not a fan of Essence lip liners and my experience with the Satin Mauve liner wasn't the best, but of course I caved mostly because Sara said I should just get it already. Thank you! I think I really like it. I'm still a bit on the edge, but my mom liked it straight away on me and asked me if she can try it as well, however, some don't like this colour on me as it's supposedly too dark. It has been growing on me more and more, and I ended up wearing it loads. It's warmer than Satin Mauve, a tiny bit more red, but still cool enough and it actually looks like Soar and Brave do on most girls I've seen. Highly recommend this to any pale girl who can't find a match for her in the 90's trend revival. I already posted a picture of it on my lips here and it's also on my lips in the got2b photo bellow. 

Müller, 1.59€

ESSENCE Lipliner

15 Honey Berry

So basically I'm an idiot. I was going to get 05 Soft Berry after seeing it on Sara, but was too lazy to write the name on the phone, so I thought this was it. Anyway, it's wasn't a complete miss and it is a colour I don't have yet. On me it's a purple that is a bit similar to Yummy Berry, but a bit darker and cooler. 

I did check Soft Berry later, but I put it back on the stand because it looks so intimidatingly dark brown. 

Müller, 1.19€

*MAKEUP REVOLUTION Iconic Pro Lipstick

Propoganda

MR came out with another line of lipstick and I've seen all sorts of very appealing swatches on the internet, with pretty much everyone praising these. The first few applications negatively surprised me because they were so sheer, but thankfully when the top layer is gone, it reveals a very pigmented, creamy lipstick. The shade is a deep red that looks very glam also due to the shine, however, I would prefer it in a matte finish and it actually exists under a name Propoganda Matte. It's a very comfortable lipstick to wear and I like the rose gold part of the packaging, as it makes it very chic. I don't get the name though. Is it deliberately misspelled?

Makeup Revolution Slovenija, 4.95 €

Do konca junija dobite na slovenski spletni strani Makeup Revolution s kodo BLOG17 17 % popusta.

ESSENCE Cinderella TE Blush

01 So this is Love

I managed to get a hold of one of the last ones of these before they completely disappear (I'm not sure when it was released in other countries though). I got it for just 1 €! What a bargain. Originally I wasn't interested in this blush much, but then I saw it's supposed to be a dupe for Mac's Hippness LE blush, which I wanted a lot time ago. It's a pink with a touch of coral, though on the cheeks it looks just pink. There is some gold shimmer in it as well, but it's not visible on the skin. It's not as pigmented as I expected from the intensity in the pan, so it's one you apply gradually. Cute little thing.

E.Leclerc, 0.99 €

*REVLON Ultra HD Lipstick

Rose

Revlon came out with a new line of lipsticks, all adorably named after flowers and I got the shade Rose, which is a natural light pink shade. These aren't that far from their Lip Butters, except they are even softer and more pigmented. The lipstick feels very balmy on the lips and not at all drying even when the hours pass. It has a shiny finish and doesn't tend to last well, but that's expected due to the texture and also the shade. It has a very strong scent of ice cream (exactly like Planica), which obviously appeals to the sweet tooth side of me. You have to open the lid sooo carefully because the lipstick is very soft and it dents easily. I've been wearing this quite a lot since I got it because it's such a non-brainer shade and it's a nice replacement for a lip balm. 

I'm wearing it here.

Click2Chic, 10.89 €

*REVLON Colorstay Gel Envy

400 Royal Flush

Of course I chose a warm purple-pink shade, what else. This one also has a tiny bit of violet shimmer/frost inside that gives it that cool toned hue. I already review this shade here and I've never tried a more perfect one coater. I'm also wearing it in the picture with the Essence blush above.

Click2Chic, 8.49 €

CATRICE Luxury Lacquers Liquid Metal Nail Polish

01 Champagne Rain

Müller had 20 % off all nail polishes and it would be rude not to take advantage. Champagne Rain is a champagne gold shimmer that ends up looking completely opaque on the nails. It looks so glamorous, though I'm already dreading the removal process.

Müller, 3.79 €

L'OREAL Color Riche Nail Polish

205 Rose Bagatelle

L'Oreal's nail polishes appealed to me recently and I picked up this deep rosy nude shade. It's about a shade or two darker than Deborah 01 as well as a bit warmer. I needed two or three coats for full opacity as the formula is thin, especially compared to the new age gel formula nail polishes.

Müller, 4.99 €

*BORN PRETTY 10 Pairs of Eyelashes #HS-43

Born pretty has a ton of eyelashes to choose from and I decided on a pack of 10 that look similar to my favourite Ardell's Demi Wispies. When they arrived I noticed, they are in fact not that similar. They are shorter for about a third and more crisscrossed. I was afraid that they might be too short for me, and they are in the inner part of the eye, however, they are really long in the outer corners and give the eye that fluttery, elongated effect. I find these make my eyes look so much bigger. They are very pretty and fluttery lashes, though I do feel them a bit on the eyes and they are very difficult to get out of the box without ruining them.

I'm wearing them here.

Born Pretty, 3.99 $

*BORN PRETTY The Hot Shop Lipstick

#1

So this is blatantly copying Top Shop's lipsticks, but I'll withhold my judgement about that. I got shade number one, which looks very different from what I imagined based on the swatches. It looks completely orange in the tube, but it's one of those shades that looks peachy on the lips and is pinker the darker your skin is. On me it's still quite an orange-ish shade, but I imagine it would look amazing medium skin tones. It's a very moisturising and soft lipstick with a glossy finish, but not as soft as Revlon's one and it will definitely appeal to all of those who like more moisturising lipsticks. 

Born Pretty, $4.29

L'OREAL Gentle Eyes and Lips Make-up Remover

A lot of people swear by this remover, especially for waterproof mascara. I was using the Maybelline version a while ago and it was the best drugstore remover I've tried to date (best ever is Clarins' one). This is the same kind - a dual phase remover that needs to be shaken so that both liquids mix. I like how it stays mixed for a long time, because most cheap removers separate after a few seconds. As far as removal goes, it's similar to the Maybelline one, but perhaps not quite as effective or it's about the same and Maybelline's is cheaper. I'd say the only difference worthy of mentioning is that L'Oreal's version stays mixed longer. As far as drugstore waterproof makeup removers go, this is a nice one. 

Interspar, 4.99 €

BALEA Luxury Verwöhnmomente Badesaltz

Red Love

Luxury Pampering Moments Bath Salt Red Love

This smells so amazing. If you're familiar with Balea's Kokos & Nectarine shower gel, this is similar, except that it's a warmer and deeper scent. It's just a classic bath salt, so there aren't any bubbles, but it turns the water into this intense shade of red-pink. I love it and I will repurchase it, even though I hoped the scent will be stronger in the bath.

DM, 0.79 €

There is a whole new collection called Luxury, with a shower gel and another bath in this scent, and the same three items plus a hand cream and scrub in the Vanilla & Patchouli scent. So far I've only seen the bath salts and hand cream here.

PRINZESSIN STERNENZAUBER Märchenhaftes 2 in 1 Shampoo + Spülung

2 in 1 Shampoo and Conditioner

As I said in one of my previous posts, I can't walk past a product with a peach/nectarine scent. I found this quite randomly whilst exploring DM for new or interesting things. It again smells much like the discontinued Kokos & Nectarine scent, though it is a bit of a different candy peach scent. I got it to use as a shower gel, but I did use it as a shampoo once. It's a shampoo plus conditioner in one, but though it foams well, my hair didn't feel particularly nourished (also not terribly stripped) and my hair was quite tangly after using it, which didn't surprise me because it's a silicone free product. I didn't feel it cleaned all that well though, at least as far as the scalp is concerned, but it should be fine for children who don't use styling products anyway. 

DM, 1.79 €

GOT2B  Rise'n Shine Soufflé

Hoch Karäter Volumen + Glaz Soufflé

I watched this video from Luxy hair and saw that this is how my hair looks on the second and third day. She used a hair wax at the end and though I used to use such a product way, way back to tame my frizz, it never occurred to me to use to for curls as well. I had no idea which one to pick in the shop because no one talks about hair waxes that I know off, so I grabbed this one from Got2B because it promises a soufflé texture and it had a nice discount. It is exactly like a soufflé and you can feel the bubbles popping under your fingers. Consequently, it's s lot lighter than a regular wax, however, it still has that waxy feel and I wouldn't use this on thin hair that gets greasy fast. It does define the curls a bit, keeps them in place, perhaps even better than a hair spray and doesn't feel terribly heavy or greasy on my hair. I'm happy with it.

This is meant as a volumising product, but I see no scenario where this could be used for volume. Waxes aren't for volume, but for definition. For volume I'd get a texturizing spray.

Müller, 4 €

AUSSIE 3 Minute Miracle Reconstructor

A traditional repurchase. I opted to try out new cheaper drugstore conditioners and masks instead of buying this again purely because of the price. Well, I ended up with three rubbish conditioners and an emptier wallet. Nice one, Mateja. So this one finally had a decent discount and I just grabbed it, now I'm thinking I should have taken two. This is one of my favourite drugstore treatments as it actually works well on my hair, it nourishes, makes it feel sleeker and smells amazing like bubble gums. But why it has to cost almost three times as much as in the USA is beyond me.

Müller, regular price 7.99 €

JOHN FRIEDA Beach Blonde Ocean-Waves

I've never owned a proper salt spray before, I did try to make it myself, but I didn't like it. I heard about this one from Alix (I Covet Three) and I had little hope this will arrive here as well, but it did. Mind you it's only in certain Müllers, but at least they didn't forget us completely again. As Alix said it smells like summer, so it has this beachy, coconut-salty scent and that was one of the main reasons I bought it. It doesn't make the hair super crunchy, though it does leave that salt water feeling on the hair and it made decent enough beachy waves, however, real salt water does it way better. I've only used it once, so I need more play time with it.

Müller, 8.39 €

KNEIPP Badekristale Immer cool bleiben 

Stay Cool Bath Crystals

It was 30°C outside when I was shopping in Müller plus I've just been through an hour long drive and this caught my attention because it's so cute with the penguin chilling with the cocktail. Normally I don't associate baths with cooling down, however, this one contains mint and menthol, so I'm interested in how this works out. 

Müller, 1.29€

Shell and Starfish Soaps

I got these mainly as decoration. I've actually had these before also in a shape of a seahorse as these look so posh in the bathroom. The scent of these is so intense, it's just a classic clean scent and I love it.

Müller, 0.30 € per piece 

*YUMMY Rhubarb and Orange Shower Gel

This smells soo good! Yummy came out with three summer and cocktails inspired scents of their shower gels: Cranberry & Lime (brusnica in limeta), Elder & Mint (bezeg in meta) and Rhubarb & Orange (rabarbara in pomaranča). Mine smells so tropically-fruity sweet, but a tiny bit bitter, which makes it so fresh - I love it. Mom says it smells like Radenska ACE Tropik and I say it smells like Bibita (discontinued blue label one). Otherwise it's just a regular shower gel, which is luckily not as runny as the original ones, but as far as any skin care benefits go, there are none, but the scent is all that matter to me anyway.

Click2Chic, 5,95 € (500 ml)

Belles Saisons Eau De Cologne Lavande

I already spoke about this in my May favourites and I've been spraying this like crazy for weeks now. I discovered this whilst exploring E.Leclerc's beauty section (again. I love it because they have things that you can't get anywhere else in Slovenia) and I was buying spare razors in the men's section when this caught my eye and once I saw the price, I just shoved it in my shopping basket. I love the vintage feel of the glass bottle, it looks better in person and it's glass, so I keep it on display in my room, right next to L'Occitane's stuff. The scent is proper a lavender and even though it's a eau de cologne, when I spray a lot of it, it doesn't disappear in seconds .

E.Leclerc, 1.51 € (250 ml)

Anything you'd like to see a review or an Instagram picture of first? 

* - Products are PR samples.

So everyone is releasing their version of gel manicures-inspired formulas and Colorstay Gel Envy are Revlon's answer to the trend. I am really enjoying these new formulas and I feel like finally after years there is progress in the nail polish market, especially when it comes to pastels. But I have to say I have never tried such a perfect one coater as this one.

Royal Flush is a hot pink/ magenta / fuchsia shade that is more on the cool side and it also has small duo chrome pink-purple frost in it, which only gives the shade that cool tone, but it isn't obvious shimmer. The formula is very thick, but smooth and it's super pigmented. All these factors make it the most perfect one coater I've tried to date. Due to the thickness it already feels like you applied two coats, so applying another one before the nails are dry, makes it way too much. However, no matter what kind of nail polish I use, I always apply two coats purely because like that, the nail polish lasts way longer (but this is one coat on the pictures with no base or top coat). With this one I just wait until it's completely dry, it doesn't even have to be on the same day to apply another coat. One thing that isn't its best feature is the lack of strong shine, which gel formulas tend to have. The brush is a classic one, so medium width and it takes three strokes to paint the nail. Don't ask me about staying power because every nail polish lasts super long on my nails.

Slovene and Croatian readers can get it on Click2Chic, international ones check your drugstores - it costs £6.99 in Boots.

Laki, ki obljubljajo videz gel manikure so se razpasli praktično povsod med cenejšimi znamkami in so prinesli očitni napredek kar se tiče formul, sploh pri raznih pastelnih odtenkih. Ampak čeprav sem preizkusila že nekaj takih formul, takega kot je ta, ki je popolnoma prekriven in izgleda tako popolno z enim slojem, pa še nisem imela.

Royal Rush je odtenek fuksije s hladnim podtonom in ima dodane še zelo majhne "duochrome" bleščice, ki se prelivajo od roza do vijole, ampak niso očitne na nohtih. Na slikah je en sloj laka brez podlaka in nadlaka.

Ima zelo gosto, ampak gladko formulo, ki je zelo pigmentirana. En sloj je popolnoma dovolj za polno prekrivnost, pravzaprav je težko nanesti še eno plast laka preden se popolnoma posuši, ker je že prvi sloj tako debel, kot dva pri običajnih lakih. Vseeno pa ko se prva plast popolnoma posuši, raje nanesem še eno plast, ker sta kot pri vseh lakih, dve plasti veliko bolj obstojni. Ne vem zakaj, ampak ta lak v živo nima tako svetlečega finiša, kot ostali gel laki, sem ga pa nosila brez nadlaka in podlaka. Čopič je povprečne debeline in potrebni so 3 potegi da se nanese po celem nohtu. 

Laki Colorstay Gel Envy so na voljo na Clic2Chic for 8,49 €.

I'm also wearing Born Pretty falsies #HS-43 and new Revlon's Ultra HD lipstick in Rose. Both things will be reviewed in the future.

 Have a great day!

*the nail polish was sent to me by Click2Chic.

Besedilo v slovenščini je na koncu objave.

Alpstories is a Slovene brand that found inspiration for their product in the Alps and they offer a range of products that are free of parabens, mineral oil, articifical colours, sythetic fragrance, silicones and aren't tested on animals. 

Bath Salt

400 g

When I saw that you can customize your own product on Alpstories, I got really excited. I just love the idea so much, though I would prefer if they also had an option of mixing very gourmand scents of products, but classic essential oils are just fine. I needed and wanted a bath salt, so that's the product I decided on, but you can also mix your own shower gel, body milk, liquid soap, massage oil and oil. There are two ways to get the right mix for you, one is by finishing a little quiz that asks you about your skin and habits, and the second way is to decide on the mix of the ingredients yourself. I did the quiz and I got a mix of pelargonium, lavender and ylang yang. I decided to add a bit of camomile in it, since you can add your ingredients later as well, but now I saw that they must have recently added the option of coconut scent, which I'd pick in a heartbeat (and cherry too). Then you proceed to the label part, which to me was terribly exciting. You can pick any colour you want for logo and then also add your own text as well as pictures that you can upload yourself if you wish. I decided on a very simple lavender theme with my blog's logo. I enjoyed making the label so much and next time I might make a mint green version.

The bath salt is sea salt with added essential oils. It takes some time to dissolve due to the size and the scent is very intense - mine turned out to be a relaxing herbal scent. It says you should put a lot of the salt in the bath and one pot contains 400 g of it.

I think this would make an excellent personalized gift. My mix cost 10.38 €, but it all depends on the ingredients and the quantity of them. Ingredients in mine here, also the other side of the label here.

Organic Shampoo

12.80 eur, 200 ml

I genuinely did not expect to like this. This was a surprise part of the package sent kindly by Alpstories and I was concerned because I have a bad track record with natural/organic shampoos and I tend to be a bit more brutal in my hair reviews (nothing makes me angrier than a product that ruins my hair). Nonetheless I gave it a try and I honestly haven't tried a SLS/SLES/silicone free shampoo that would actually behave like a normal shampoo - but this one does. It foams well, it cleans well and it doesn't leave my hair a dried up, tangly mess. It's not nourishing, nonetheless I really appreciate that it's not stripping. It has sort of a pharmacy shampoo scent that is a bit more bitter and herbal, but it's not annoying. It's quite a basic shampoo that would probably suit many hair types, though I can't assess how well it would perform on very greasy hair. I don't like sulphate free shampoo in general because they don't clean well enough, but this is really good one, though I would prefer if were a bit more nourishing. It also doesn't irritate my scalp, though it didn't help to fix my dandruff problem at all. Ingredients here.

Damask Rose Floral Water 

10.20 eur, 250 ml

There is this hype about rose waters in the beauty community, particularly about the Melvita one and you have to admit that this one and Melvita's share some similarities when it comes to the packaging, but Alpstories one is more affordable. I was excited to give a try due to all the benefits I heard such waters bring. It's a toner in a spray that you apply after cleansing to refresh the skin and you can also use it liberally during the day or even over makeup. The spray pump isn't the best. I've bought some very inexpensive products with a better pump, so price shouldn't be an excuse. The mist isn't fine enough and the product lands on one part of the skin, so it feels too wet and not well distributed. But I can get past that because I actually prefer to spray this on a cotton pad and apply it like that, especially in the mornings before moisturiser and foundation. I do have a problem with the scent. For one I'm not a fan of rose scented products in general, but this one is to my nose even worse because it has this strong sour/vinegar note to it and I can't bear it. I literally stop breathing when I apply this to avoid smelling it, but thankfully it dissipates very quickly. As far as long term result go, I can't say I noticed anything special. The skin feels refreshed right after application and that's it. I notice no particular hydration or other skin benefits and at times I even feel it might be a bit irritating on damaged skin (it definitely doesn't soothe at all). As I said I use this in the morning for a quick refreshment, but I wouldn't miss it in my care. 

They sell their products in Slovenia and Croatia, but they have an international online shop as well.

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Alpstories je slovenska znamka, ki je našla navdih v Alpah in ponujajo izdelke, ki so brez parabenov, mineralnega olja, umetnih ter sintentičnih barvil, silikonov, poleg tega pa ne testirajo na živalih.

Kopalna sol

400 g

Že ko sem gledala Youtube videe nekaterih Britank, ki so govorile o kopalnih soleh Bathory, slednje namreč lahko namešaš kakor si želiš, me je ideja zelo pritegnila, ampak sem enostavno predvidevala, da kaj takega zagotovo ni pri nas. Pa sem se motila. Alpstories mi je sprva izgledala kot vsaka povprečna spletna trgovina z naravno kozmetiko, nato pa sem opazila možnost ustvarjanja lastnega izdelka. Pohvalno. In ne ponujajo le kopalne soli, ampak tudi mleko za telo, masažno olje, tuš gel, tekoče milo in olje. Da namešaš izdelek se lahko odločiš za eno izmed dve poti - začneš sam od začetka ali pa rešiš kratek kviz, ki te sprašuje za osnovne stvari o koži in navadah. Jaz sem se odločila za slednje in mi je ponudilo mešanico pelargonije, ylang ylanga in sivke. Sama sem se odločila še dodati kamilico za vonj, zdaj pa sem videla, da so dodali možnost vonja kokosa, ki bi ga seveda izbrala takoj, zanimiva pa mi je še češnja. Da lahko ustvariš še svojo nalepko me je čisto presenetilo in takoj sem začela delati razne kombinacije barv ter slik. Slike lahko naložiš tudi sam in tudi jaz sem naložila sliko "mojega logotipa". Končna kombinacija je sivkino inspirirana, naslednja pa bo zagotovo mentolno zelena.

Sama sol je navadna groba morska sol kateri so dodana eterična olja, zelišča in parfumi. Sol se počasi topi v vodi in ima kar močen vonj - moja kombinacija je zelo sproščujoča mešanica pelargonije, ylang ylang, sivke in kamilice. Sol je na voljo v velikosti 400 g, embalaža pa je plastična z kovinskim pokrovčkom.

Meni se zdi ideja individualno namešanih izdelkov z nalepkami zelo primerna za kakšno posebno darilo. Moja mešanica je stala 10,38 €, je pa znesek popolnoma odvisen od sestavin in količin le-teh. Sestavine moje soli tukaj, ter še druga stran nalepke tukaj.

Organski šampon za lase aloe vera

12,80 eur, 200 ml

Nisem pričakovala, da mi bo ta šampon všeč. Na splošno nisem ljubiteljica "naravnih" šamponov ali pa takih brez SLS in SLES ter silikonov, ker se v preteklosti niso kaj pretirano izkazali, pa čeprav imam prhljaj in naj bi menjava na take šampone pomagala, je bil končni efekt skupaj ničen. Še bolj me pa moti, da so taki šamponi ponavadi enostavno čudni, se ne penijo in ne očistijo dobro, ampak tale je pa očitno izjema. Sploh ne bi verjela, da je brez sulfatov, saj se obnaša čisto kot normalen šampon, ki se dobro peni in očisti lase. Celo ne diši tipično močno zeliščno, česar res ne maram, ampak diši bolj kot kakšen šampon iz lekarne z dodatkom grenkega zeliščnega vonja. Učinkek je nad pričakovanji, saj mi las ne pusti izsušenih in zavozlanih, čeprav ni pretirano negovalen, pa vseeno cenim, da nimam občutka, da bo potrebno uporabiti ogromno balzama. Zdi se mi primeren za večino tipov las, ker je kar osnovni šampon, čeprav ne znam povedati kako bi se obnesel na zelo mastnih laseh. Glede prhljaja nisem opazila nobenih sprememb, pač pri mojem sulfati in silikoni očitno niso problem, mi pa šampon ni iritiral lasišča, kot nekateri naravni šamponi (Lavera). Kar se tiče naravnih šamponov, je med temi, ki sem jih preizkusila do zdaj, ta najboljši, bi si pa glede na moj tip las želela, da bi bil morda malo bolj negovalen. Sestavine tukaj.

100% organska cvetna vodica damaščanske vrtnice

10,20 eur, 250 ml

Rožne vodice so dosegle najvišjo raven popularnosti v zadnjih letih z Melvitino rožno vodico v centru dogajanja in ne morem si pomagati, da ne bi opazila kako podobni sta si s tole od Alpstories, predvsem vizualno, seveda pa je slednja cenejša. Melvitine verzije nisem nikoli preizkusila, ampak sem slišala, da naj bi imela zelo pozitivne učinke in seveda me je zelo zanimalo kako se bo ta od Alpstories obnesla na moji mešani koži. Je pravzaprav tonik v spreju, ki ga naneseš po čiščenju ali pa kadarkoli, lahko tudi čez ličila, da se znebiš preveč očitnega pudrastega videza. Sam sprej ni pretirano dober, ker ne naredi dovolj razpršene in fine meglice, zato vodica pristane samo na enem delu obraza in pusti moker občutek. Sama se znajdem tako, da tonik raje nanašam z vatko, še posebej zjutraj namesto micelarne vode in pred nanosom kreme, za namene hitrega čiščenja in osvežitve. Me pa zelo moti vonj. Že tako in tako nisem ljubiteljica vrtničnih vonjev v kozmetiki, ker sploh niso podobni pravi stvari, ampak tale ima še dodatno kislo noto, ki jo težko prenašam. Dejansko neham dihati, ko špricam ta tonik, da se izognem vonju, ampak se vsaj zelo hitro razdiši. Glede dolgotrajnih učinkov ne vem če sem res opazila kakšne pomembnejše rezultate. Koža je bolj osvežena po nanosu, ampak to je vse. Kakšne dodatne navlaženosti nisem opazila, mi pa občasno, če je kje kakšna ranica kožo celo malo iritira, saj malenkost peče, pa sploh nima alkohola. Uporabljam jo zjutraj za hitro osvežitev, ampak jo ne bi pogrešala v svoji negi. Sestavine tukaj (pod ingredients)

Alpstories izdelke lahko dobite v trgovinah Misli Zdravo in nekaterih lekarnah. Seznam lahko najdete tukaj, poleg tega pa imajo še spletno trgovino.

Have a great day!

*Products were sent to me.

PRE-WASH TREATMENTS

Coconut Oil

If your hair is really dry or at least your ends desperately need some extra care, oils are your best bet. Particularly coconut oil has proven to be excellent for hair because it's the only one that has the ability to penetrate into the cortex and also helps prevent protein loss. You simply apply it on dry hair before washing and leave it on as long you like, but the longer the better and leaving it overnight yields best results. Then you simply wash it off (you'll notice how much sleeker your hair is when rinsing off the shampoo) and continue with conditioner as well as the rest of the care. You can also heat the oil first in the microwave or use a hair dryer to warm it up as warm oil performs even better. People often ask me if putting a lot of oil on their hair will make it greasy - you'll wash it off. Unless you have a rubbish shampoo, all the oil simply washes off by shampooing twice. Coconut oil is sold in any bigger grocery store and drugstores (it's usually where the healthy food is), but beware of varying prices as I've seen some insane price tags and if you're paying over 10 €, it's too much.

Read more about coconut oil here on this genius blog, The Natural Haven Bloom, here and here. 

LE PETITE MARSEILLIAIS Huile Elixir Karité & Argan

I found this quite randomly in E.Leclerc and though we have this brand just about everywhere here, for some reason I could only find this oil there. I think it's even better than coconut oil and it's my ultimate "über dry hair fixer". They decided to fit the bottle with a spray applicator, which was a bad move, since the oil is too thick and there is no way it could spray it into a mist, but you just spray it in the hands and apply it like that. I'm always very generous when applying it and I use it all over the hair since my entire length is dry, but you can easily just apply it on the ends if that is your only problematic area. I tend to leave it on overnight or all day if I'm at home and put my hair in a tight bun, then wash my hair in the morning or evening and let me tell you this oil has fantastic results. It deeply hydrates and nourishes the hair like nothing I've tried. My hair feels like it's transformed. But it doesn't work on dry hair after washing if you plan to use it as a leave-in as it is very greasy and heavy. 

E. Leclerc, 5-6 €

Other recommendations:

Macadamia Oil

Argan Oil

Jojoba Oil

Olive Oil

SHAMPOOS

L'OREAL Elseve Extraordinaire Oil Nourishing Shampoo and Elvital Glatt-Intense Pflege-Shampoo 

I have tried many, many shampoos in my life, a large majority of them were from the drugstore and these two from L'Oreal win hands down. Performance-wise they are both about the same with the main difference being the scent. Extraordinary oil one has an oriental cinnamon-ish scent, while Glatt-Intense has a typical clean scent. The latter seems to have disappeared from our shelves, perhaps in order to be replaced by Extraordinary oil, but regardless, as I said they are so similar. The formula reminds me a lot of the much more expensive and utterly brilliant Oleo-Relax, so it's like a bit of conditioner was added to the shampoo, but it doesn't weight the hair down, just smooths it a bit. When I'm rinsing it off, there is none of that annoying squeaky clean, dry, my-hair-I'll-be-a-tangly-mess feeling and the hair can be combed a lot easier than at a lot of other shampoos. Best of all, these are on offer very often and you can get 400 ml at a bargain price of a few euros just about everywhere.

Other recommendations:

GARNIER FRUCTIS Oil Repair 3 Shampoo 

L’OREAL Everpure Moisture shampoo 

GARNIER Ultra Doux Apricot and Almond shampoo 

CONDITIONERS, MASKS AND TREATMENTS

JOHN FRIEDA Brilliant Brunette Moisturising Conditioner

Just as shampoos, I've tried my fair share of drugstore conditioners and though a large majority were disappointing (I just tried three new ones last month and all did not perform satisfactory), there are a few drugstore gems that I've been loyal to for years. They of course don't work as well as salon brands, especially when it comes to dry hair (I would suggest you still invest in one high-end one if your hair is really dry), but they still do their work admirably. Brilliant Brunette has been in my conditioners stash for so many years and when one runs out, a new one promptly takes its place. It feels quite light, yet it is moisturising enough for my dry hair and it leaves the hair feeling silky when I rinse it off, but there are two other things that it excels at and that is shine and scent. The scent is divine, it's like a mix of coconut and caramel in a more sophisticated way and this is the only conditioner/mask after which my hair smells nice for at least a day if not longer. I currently own a salon size 500 ml bottle, which comes with a very handy pump, while the regular sizes comes in a squeeze tube.

Price: 8.49 € for 250 ml in Müller and DM.

AUSSIE 3 Minute Miracle Reconstructor

Things were shaky the first few weeks when I got my first Aussie Reconstructor, but it turned out to be one of my ultimate favourites. It's one of the rare conditioners that I consider being almost as good as some more expensive ones because the effects last a day or two longer on my hair, in particular when it comes to how long my hair stays moisturised. It has a gel-cream hybrid texture that is easy to apply on the hair and it smells just like Hubba-Bubba fruit fantasy bubble gum tape. I leave it on for longer than 3 minutes, usually about 20 minutes, but you can just leave for as long as you want to. It finally became available in Slovenia (can I get a hallelujah for that?), though it is quite pricey compared to the USA. 

Price: 8 € in Müller.

L'ORÉAL Elvive Total Repair 5 Hair Mask

Elvital Total Repair 5 Intensiv Maske mit Reparatűr Serum 

Elvive Full Restore 5

This caught my eye when I saw it on Allure's list of best drugstore treatments, though it's has several different names and packaging, but I think mine is the right one. This is my first pot and though I liked it straight away, I'm more and more impressed by it with every use. Compared to most masks available on our market, this one performs really well on dry hair, it nourishes it and just does all the basic things I expect from a hair mask. The pudding-jelly cream consistency reminds me of Kérastase Nutritive Masquintense Epais-Thick, thought L'Oreal's version of course isn't as impressive as the Kérastase's, but it's certainly lovely for the price. I also tried the newest Extraordinary Oil version and it performs badly compared to this one, so I actually much prefer the combination of Extraordinary shampoo with Total Repair 5 mask. There is also another version of Total Repair in a violet packaging, but I haven't tried it yet. 

Müller, 6.39 €. I've seen only the violet version in DM.

Other recommendations:

DOVE Nourishing Oil Care 

HERBAL ESSENCES Bee Strong Conditioner 

HERBAL ESSENCES Hello Hydration mask 

L'OREAL Hair Expertise Ever Riche Mask Pot 

HEAT PROTECTION

L'OREAL Studio Line Hot & Smooth Hot Straight Cream

Studio Line Hot&Glatt Thermo-Glättungs-Balm

I will be completely honest at this category and say that none of the drugstore heat protectors blew me away, also a lot of them contain alcohol, which is completely unnecessary for dry hair. However, I have been using L'Oreal's Studio Line Hot & Smooth (previously Silk & Gloss) for at least ten years, first on my hair and now on others. There are a few versions of heat protectors in this line - I have two, the lotion version and the aerosol one. I wouldn't recommend the latter for dry hair because it contains alcohol and it does feel a bit drying on the hair, however, the lotion is another story. It's a very basic, light heat protection that doesn't weight down the hair and does its job of protecting from heat. My bottle is very old and it has been repackaged, so I put the newest aerosol version next to it, which comes in the new design.

About 5 € in Műller.

Possibly interesting alternatives that I haven't tried yet, but heard good things about:

L'OREAL Paris Elnett Sleek Heat Protect Spray  (and in German) 

L'OREAL Studio Line Silk & Gloss Hot Straight Spray 

AUSSIE Dual Personality Heat Protection

DOVE Style+Care Replenishment and Heat Protect Spray (available in Boots) 

UMBERTO GIANNINI Glam Hair Princess Purrfect Hot Styler Spray (available in Boots) 

LEAVE-INS

AVON Advanced Techniques Moroccan Argan Oil

I have exactly the same opinion about silicone oils as about heat protections - there aren't many that are actually good or comparable to salon brands ones. Yes, essentially they are all just good-old silicone serums with some oils. Big deal, right? However, most drugstore ones again have alcohol in it or even if they have nice ingredients, they don't work as well, mostly because they are too light (like for example the Garnier Fructis one). And since they are so light, dry hair just drinks them up in minutes and then it's like you didn't use anything, so you end up using so much oil for any effect. But Petra showed me one exception and it's brilliant. You can tell from the bottle, I've been loving this for the past months. The texture is comparable to salon brands "oils" in a sense that's it's thick, but it's not as thick as Orofluido or Macadamia Natural Oil's one, still it's much better than most drugstore oils. I don't tend to use it on damp hair, but rather after blow-drying to tame the frizz, give the hair a bit of nourishment and shine. It smells nice as well and the scent is like a mix of their "regular" green serum, which smells a bit like apples but in a hair salon way, plus some deep oriental note. I'm also a big fan of the pump, but I do mind that there is only 30 ml of it in the bottle because when you compare the prices per ml, Orofluido is not that more expensive if you know where to get the lowest price.

Avon, regular price 6.90€, but it's often on offer.

GOT2B Oil-licious Weightless Dry Oil Mist

Öl-La-La Styling Öl-Spray 

This is basically just a very light silicone-oil in an aerosol form, which is wonderful for dry hair that needs a bit of a boots and even for those who find most liquid silicone-oils too heavy for their hair. It gives tons of shine, helps fight frizz and doesn't weight down the hair, which makes it a great choice to use when you wear your hair curly and you fear your curls will drop if you apply a proper hair oil. It's more of a styling/shine product, since the argan oil content is minimal and it doesn't actually nourish the hair much, however, it's much better than your average shine spray because most of those have a high content of alcohol. This spray is actually just cheating healthy, shiny hair in a can. I can spray a ton of it on my hair and it doesn't weigh it down one bit, build up or make it oily, however, my hair is dry and thick. 

I've seen Fructis does the same thing, but they obviously had to put alcohol in it, what else.

6.99 € in Müller.

SEXY HEALTHY HAIR Soy Tri-Wheat Leave In Conditioner

I will sneakily add this leave-in as well because you can get it for as little as 12.70 € on Beauty Bay and one bottle lasts me well over a year. A good leave-in conditioner makes all the change when you have dry hair. It injects an additional boots of moisture, it helps the hair stay hydrated longer and this one also helps fight frizz. Using this, I can easily use a drugstore conditioner without having my hair dry by the end of second day after washing it. I don't even have to resort to using oil every day on my ends. It's hands down the best leave-in conditioner I've tried and if you're worried it's heavy, it's actually just a very light liquid.

Other recommendations:

GLISS 19 Total Repair Express Repair Spűllung

JOHN FRIEDA Frizz Ease Daily Miracle Leave-In Conditioner - recommended by Živa from Nothin' Fancy. Really.

Have a great day!

Every blogger in my subscription box and their mother is talking about these lip liners, overwhelmingly in positive tones and yet, despite the price I had a hard time deciding to try one because I'm genuinely not a fan of the "original" Essence lip liners (too soft and too creamy with poor lasting power - not my cup of tea). The fact that they are retractable liners didn't sell me either since Catrice's version break like crazy plus they are sticky and these are made by the same company. I ended up actually liking it and went back to get another shade, however, these are not my favourite, as I still find them average (average good, not average bad).

Although these are still creamy, the texture is less soft than at their original lip liners which is a good thing because it means a higher level of precision, but because these can't be sharpened, once they are blunt, the edges aren't super sharp any more. Contrary to Catrice version, it doesn't brake or at least it hasn't to me, so I'm far more comfortable with applying it. The formula is again closer to a lipstick than a lip liner, but that apparently appeals to most consumers and I completely get why these are so popular. They apply nicely without dragging and aren't drying, though they aren't moisturising either.

The colour Yummy Berry, is quite different on my lips than I imagined based on so many swatches (see how it looks on Taya and on Breath of Colour blog). It's a cool toned fuchsia shade on me. I have nothing like it in my collection, as most my lip colours are warm and even though it's a cool toned shade, I actually really like it. It does make me look paler, but I can make it work for me and I'm thinking about finding a proper lip colour in such a shade.

Staying power is in typical Essence fashion a bit disappointing. It lasts ok if you don't touch your lips, drink or eat, but if you happen to do any of those thing it erases the lip colour completely, which is a bit surprising considering the intensity of the shade.  

These cost 1.59 € in Müller and I am considering getting a few more shades, just for fun to see if such colours suit me, but as far as the quality goes these are nothing exceptional. I'm currently very much enjoying the shade Lovely Frappuccino. It's the first such colour I actually like and you can see me wearing it here.

Have a great day!