This is a big one people. Five years. I've been relentlessly babbling about makeup and other trivialities for five years. I remember the day I created my blog and promptly posted several posts right after midnight the next day. I posted 21 reviews in 8 days! I was a blogging machine back then. Just kidding - truth be told, they were just a collection of swatches that I already posted on different forums, so it wasn't that big of a feat. I also remember my first subscriber or should I say subscribers - the pioneers of Slovene beauty blogging Parokeets. How they found me I have no idea because I never mentioned to anyone that I'm planning on creating a beauty blog, but high five to them. My blogging style evolved so much, but it's still based on doing all those detailed reviews that I'm sure some people say "Ain't nobody got time to read all this". That's why I put pictures between the paragraphs and try to separate each thing, so you can pick what you'll read.

I've mentioned this in The Secrets of Blogging Tag, but today it's also my Name day. It's an old, sadly mostly forgotten tradition, but I celebrate it every year and it's like my second birthday (I made a ton of muffins yesterday). Happy Name day to all Matejas (and Matthews, Matjažs as well as every version of the name)!

Top Reads

Want to know what top reads were in all these five years? Here they are:

My favourites

And of course I want to point out my favourites. These are the ones I'm most proud of and pretty much all of them took me ages to do or I just really enjoyed making them. 

I'm going to bore with statistics now. A total of 676 posts were posted in these five years and my dear readers plus me created 8390 comments - boy we had a lot to say. The blog had a mind blowing 1,8 million views and it gets about 65,000 views per month. Most searched keyword was "matejas beauty blog", followed by "manhattan soft mat" and "essence stay with me"

Thank you for every subscription, comment, like, pin, just for reading my posts - thank you for everything. It's been a wonderful five years with all of you and I hope it'll be like that in the future as well.

Giveaway

I promised to myself that when my blog turns five I'll actually make a giveaway. I've made a little bit of money from it, so it's only fair to give some back. I gave it a lot of thought what I'd give away and I decided on a Feel Unique Voucher for 30 € because that is what I'd most love to get and it gives you a chance to clear something from your wishlist. I don't want this to turn into one of those giveaways that just attracts free stuff hunters, so I'm asking you not to share anything and I'll also make you work for it because I want that the prize goes to someone who's actually a subscriber and reading my blog. Ideally it'd be someone who commented here because you just feel that bit closer to the person, however, I'm very aware that there are probably a lot of people, who read me regularly and never comment because I do the same thing to like a hundred bloggers. You have to answer this question correct to be able to participate:

What camera do I use for my blog photography?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'm sure regular readers know the answer, as a hint I can say that there was series of blog photography posts and also that the answer is literally one click away. Do not write the answer in the comments, write it in the Rafflecoppter box, so you don't diminish your chances. Following me on social media increases your chances, but you don't have to subscribe to everything. Giveaway will last a week, so it ends on 28. September 2015 at 12 PM (CEST) and I'll try to announce the winner as soon as I'll be able to, at the same time they'll get an email from me. If the winner doesn't respond in two days, a new winner will be chosen. The giveaway is international and it's not sponsored.

Best of luck in the giveaway and thank you for reading!

Yes, I am very aware I talk about this foundation all the time, but I love it to bits and you know what? After three bottles and four years of love, I finally set out to do a proper review. It's about damn time, right? It just bothered me that every time I mention this I don't have a decent review of this to link and at least you should see the before and after side by side, but I do wear this foundation in a majority of my lipstick and blush posts. This is a foundation that made me fall in love with foundations. Before I had the worst problems with flakes, every foundation made them visible from space, so I avoided applying them all together or at least left out the forehead, where the situation was most dire. But this just glides over patches and it's the first foundation I wore foundation all over the face with no worry and it just looks so natural, radiant and pretty. 

Texture: It's light and runny, and you can blend this very long if you want. Whether you use fingers, brush or a sponge, pretty much any technique works with this, but I like applying with fingers best. You can layer it as much as you want and it won't cake up, but blend in seamlessly.

Coverage: Light to medium. My freckles still shine through and it doesn't cover spots or dark circles well, but I prefer it like that and just spot conceal where needed. I was never a fan of completely covering my skin and why should I? It's not like I'm not happy with its state.

Finish: It has that dewy, healthy glowy finish and it's almost invisible on the skin. There are no tell-tell signs that you're wearing foundation, but the skin looks fresher, perked up and healthy. This is the perfect foundation for dehydrated skin because it just glides over dry patches and doesn't emphasize them at all. However, if your skin is oily, you won't like it. I've never heard of anyone with oily skin praising this.

Colour: I always get the lightest shade 51 Light Vanilla. Bourjois foundations run very yellow, but it is a light shade as far as drugstore foundations go. I swatched it in pretty much every foundation review and I use it as a standard comparison, so it's easier to compare all the different foundations I've reviewed so far.

Find more comparisons in next posts: 

and there are actually more, check under About or Directory for links.

Staying power: Due to the light texture and a dewy finish, it's not the most long-lasting foundation. I don't really check in the mirror during the day and it depends on the day, but it last somewhere in the ballpark of 5, maybe up to 7-8 hours with a primer. The oilier your skin is, the faster it'll slide off.

Scent: It has a lovely fruity scent that I've loved from day one. Some will find it too strong, but I like fragranced stuff.

Ingredients: Someone once asked me if that alcohol content is apparent. Do not worry yourself with that alcohol, it's only on the 14th place. Usually it's only the first five ingredients after water that really matter, so those lychee, pomegranate and goji berry extracts are almost non-existent here - don't fall for the "vitamins-rich fruit therapy" claim on the bottle. 

Packaging: Plastic bottle with a handy pump. It's one of the best foundations for travelling because it's slim and the there is no fear the bottle will break. One of my bottles survived five hotels in as many days, three countries and a lot of travelling. 

Price and availability: Price is going up, which is making me very angry. You just kind of feel betrayed because it's like they are punishing loyal customers. It's currently about 15 €, but on occasions there are some discounts so it pays to wait.

So here it is, my good old trusted friend. We've been through a lot together and I still love it to bits. I wish they had more neutral shades and one that is lighter as well, but 51 is good enough for my skin. The coverage is on the light side, which I know a lot of people don't like, but I've never been a fan of obvious makeup, so I gravitate towards the most invisible bases, that still have coverage. Any of you fans of this foundation? 

Have a great day!

1. MILANI Rose Powder Blush

I had my eye on these for so long, but I didn't like the original colours, so I'm happy that they came out with more, though I hear they are LE. There are several shades I'd love to have, but I think that American Beauty Rose and Blossoming Rose look most like my type of colour. Knowing myself I actually think I'd be afraid to use them because I wouldn't want to destroy the gorgeous pattern and I think wouldn't be the only one.

Milani EU, currently 7.73 €; Click2Chic, 10.46 €

2. TOO FACED Love Flush Blush

Another set of blushes that I just find so adorable. The heart shaped design was a stroke of genius, though it's been done before, but these are the first I'd like to try because of the formula. I'm not sure which shade to get yet, maybe something in the peachy-pink range  (How Deep is your Love? or Love Hangover) or something nude (Baby Love). These are quite expensive and I don't even know where to get them yet that they would ship to Slovenia, but there's no hurry.

Too Faced, $26.00

3. HUGO BOSS Ma Vie Pour Femme

EDP

I used up four fragrances in the past month and a half (can I get a high five?), so I deserve a new one. I have three on my priority list, one is L'Occitane's Peony which I cannot get out of my head, but it was in my last wishlist post, the second is Elle L'aime Lolita Lempicka, but that one is very beachy and the third one is Ma Vie, which I also mentioned in one of my wishlists beforeand it's a lovely fruity-floral scent that reminds me of a shampoo, so it's very easy to wear on all occasions.  

Salma, 38.60 € - 47.60 €

4. THE BALM The Manizer Sisters

I was going to include just Mary-Lou here, but then I saw the news of this release and it's just the best idea ever. I have one powder highlighter and even that was gifted to me by the queen of highlighters Petra (thank you again) because she found it too pink for her, so I don't have the best selection of undertones, like something gold. Everyone and their mother is raving about Mary-Lou and though I'm concerned it'd be too gold for me, I want that glow, which is a bit strange coming out of my mouth, but I don't want to do subtle highlighting all the time. The palette contains all three the Balm highlighters, the original Mary-Lou Manizer, the pink and probably more of a blush for me Cindy-Lou Manizer and the bronzy Betty-Lou Manizer. If I won't be able to find this palette anywhere, I'll probably just get Mary-Lou one day.

The Balm, $28

5. MAKEUP FACTORY Mat Lip Fluid Longlasting 

61 Velvet Rosewood

I found this randomly once in Műller and it's been on my mind ever since. It's that popular rose-marsala shade that is everywhere this year, but I don't have anything like it. I swatched it next to Bourjois Nude-ist, which is one of my favourite lip colour ever, and it's darker and less pink, but in the same colour family. The formula dried very matte and I love a good mate finish.  

Müller, 11.95 € (price in Germany)

6. ZOEVA Rose Gold Complete Eye Set

I am in a desperate need of new eye brushes. I'm serious. All of mine are those that were a couple of dollars online or euros in drugstores and they are all so old, I'm embarrassed to tell you (bought way before my blog), plus a lot of them started feeling scratchy. Plus I don't' even have a lot of them. I have three"fancy" brushes that are from Mac - 239, 217 and 219, but they are again super old and they aren't enough. I hear a lot of great things about Zoeva and though the prices are way, way too high for what I'd normally be prepared to pay, I might do something totally out of character and get a set of them. These new Rose Gold ones caught my attention because they are drop dead gorgeous and that is that little plus that might make me want to open my wallet more willingly, I just hope that when I finally make up my mind, I won't discover they are gone.  

Zoeva, 65 €; Moja Drogerija, 68.85 €.

7. MILANI Color Statement Lipstick 

Matte Passion

I hear that this is a good dupe for Lady Danger, which I only have a sample of, but I wear it frequently in the summer, so I'd like to have a proper lipstick in this shade. I'm also really interested in what the formula is like as I just love matte finishes.

Milani EU 5.56 €; Click2Chic, 6.83 €

8. HEALTY SEXY HAIR Soy Renewal Creme Oil

I'm a massive fan of the Soy Tri-Wheat Leave-In, it's a product I use every time I wash my hair and it really makes a difference in how long my hair stays hydrated. I heard that this is actually an even better product for dry hair like mine, basically it's an upgrade and of course, I'm itching to try it, but it's ridiculously expensive, almost twice as much as the leave-in conditioner. I'm hoping that it'll be cheaper around Christmas.

Beauty Bay, £20.48

9. MA PROVENCE Shampoing solide bio Anti-pelliculaire

solid anti-dandruff shampoo
I'm currently without any anti-dandruff products, so I'm again on the search for something new to try. I'm not a fan of natural shampoos at all, but Monika from Sugarlove blog says this helped her a lot, so it's worth a try. It's a shampoo bar and I never tried one in solid form, so this will be interesting to test, but I do have my concerns about it being drying. It's very expensive for something that I'm not a 100 % sure I'll like or that'll work, so I'm still putting off actually purchasing it.

DM, 8-9 €

10. L'OCCITANE Pivoine Flora Bi-phase Bath Oil

I found this on my recent visit of L'Occitane's online shop, where I like to look at the Peony fragrance and weep in my keyboard about the price, but I had no idea that such a product existed. From what I can gather it's bath oil made out of two phases and it turns milky white in the bath, but I think I can use this as a shower oil, like the almond one. I'm basically interested in it mostly for the gorgeous peony scent.

L'Occitane. 20.30 €

11. BALEA Dushe & Creme Hibiskus & Nectarine

I knew Balea wouldn't just completely stop doing product with nectarine scent as it was to good not to use it somewhere. You might remember the shower gel in the coconut-nectarine combination, so now they swapped coconut with hibiscus. We'll see how this works out.

DM, probably 0.99 €

12. BARRY M Nail Paint 

292 Navy

I asked on Instagram what nail polish would be similar to the long discontinued Essence's Deep Blue Sea, which is one of the most perfect deep blues with blue frost and I got a reply from Katja (Nail2Express) that Barry M's Navy should fit the bill. And she knows her stuff. I tried buying it on Boots International already, but the site was so glitchy or this was actually out of stock, so I couldn't add it to the bag. I will get it one way or another, mark my words.

Boots International, £2.99

BALEA Mizellen Reinigungs Wasser

Micellar Cleansing Water

Picture here.

Two new exciting launches are coming to DMs, I just don't know if also in Slovene ones, but Balea made a micellar water (two versions) and a cleansing oil. I've seen first reviews of the oil and it's supposedly good, but you end up using it a lot. I might give it a try, but I'll definitely try the one of the micellar waters.

DM, price for micellar water to be announced, the oil will cost 2.45€

BALEA Pflegecreme Best Wishes

Picture here.

New versions of Pfelegecreme are already available in Germany. One is with an orange-grapefruit scent and the other with violet-freesia scent. I'd like to get both, but the citrus one is a priority. 

DM, here presumably 1.19 €, but it's 0.95 € in Germany. 

Have a great day!

Max Factor added a new mascara to their family and it's another version of the űber popular False Lash Effect. I had the latter when it first launched and poked myself in the eye with that huge brush so hard that I barely contained myself not to throw it out the window, though I actually liked the effect of it (I then sneakily gave it to my mom). This one has a smaller brush that is easier to handle, but the basic design is the same. Velvet Volume promises a very lightweight formula that doesn't weight down the lashes, no matter how many coats you apply. 

The formula is indeed light and so far it hasn't thickened (1 month since I got it), which is a bit odd, as most mascaras do. The thicker the formula, the more volume you get, so I'd like to see it thicken at least a bit. Despite the fact that the formula is light in it promises not to weight down the lashes, consequently the curl shouldn't drop, with this mascara my lashes drop within seconds. It's actually quite annoying to me because you know how long my lashes are, but if they aren't curled, it literally looks like I have no lashes at all #hoodedeyesproblems. As far as effect goes, it's a very defining mascara that gives a natural effect and only with a ton, and I mean a ton of coats, you get some decent volume going. That's why I find that this mascara should suit those who like a very natural effect. It's the one I'd give to my mom, who does not like big lashes, but just a bit of definition.

The brush is a plastic one with evenly distributed bristles. Because it doesn't bend and the material also appears to be quite hard, I find that when I'm applying it close to the lashes, it feels a bit harsh. I had the same problem with the False Lash Effect, their brushes are just too clumsy and harsh for me. Its strong point is definitely definition as it combs and applies the product on every lash.

Mine is a regular formula and it doesn't flake nor smudge during the day, but I never really had issues with that anyway.

This mascara costs a fairly unreasonable 14.35 €, which is in my opinion just way too much for a drugstore mascara. I'm just not happy with how pretty much painful the application is on my eyes (it could be my eye shape, I don't know) and I'm just not feeling the effect of it, but if you like defined lashes that look very natural, this might be a mascara for you. Plus Karin and Klavdija rate it very high, so don't listen to the grumpy old me.

Have a great day!

Red is such a classic shade that never goes out of style. You can be bold, glamorous or even a rebel with reds on your lips and nails. I'm a huge fan of reds and because I have a neutral skin tone, I feel like I'm not restricted to wearing just warm or cool toned reds. I prepared a selection of three shades of red worn on the lips and nails so it's a bit matchy-matchy and created three different looks. I included alternatives to all these shades as well, so you'll be seeing a lot of red.

The Bold One

Orange reds are such fun shades and they make me instantly think of summer. I feel as if every time June comes around so many bloggers dig out their Lady Danger lipstick and wear it with pride. I have a little dinky sample of Lady Danger, but for this look I chose to wear Essence's Lip Cream Floral Glam, which is essentially an almost the same shade, but it was unfortunately a LE (Guerrila Gardening). On my nails I'm wearing Depend's nail polish in 036, which matches the lip colour very well. For a lip liner I chose Essence Lipliner in Femme Fatale, which admittedly isn't the best shade for this category, but it's the closest I have to an orange toned liner. 

As I said the quintessential orange red is the super popular Lady Danger, but I find a newer Mac's shade called Dangerous a little bit prettier. For those who don't want to commit to a bold pout, Bourjois' Rouge Edition Shine in 21 Rouge Making Of is a nice sheer option. The most budget choice would be MUA's lipstick in 13 that'll cost you a quid and for those who want a warm red that doesn't have such a strong orange tone try Catrice's Ultimate Colour Lipstick in MATTador. For nail polish option I also have Essence's Juicy Love in my stash, but Essence has been messing with their formulas, so I'm not sure it's the same. I also found you some alternatives/dupes for Lady Danger: Milani Matte Lipstick in Passion, Nyx Matte Indie Flick, Wet n' Wild Megalast Purty Persimmon, Maybelline Craving Coral, ...

The Glamorous One

Nothing screams glamour more than a classic blue toned red lipstick. These types of lip colour also make you teeth look more white, so it's no wonder they are so popular. My absolute favourite is L'Oreal's Colour Riche in Blake which is a part of the Collection Exclusives. The colour is stunning and the finish is matte, plus the formula is the absolute best I've tried - it's way better than the more popular Mac's lipsticks. I paired it with Catrice's Ultimate Nail Colour in Bloody Mary to go, which is a type of shade everyone should have in their collection. For a lip liner I used Catrice's Longlasting Lip Pencil in 040 …and a Cherry on the Top and I also added Ardell's Demi Wispies to bump up the glam.  

Though I stand firm that Blake is by far the best choice here, I have some alternatives. The most obvious choices are from MAC - the good old Ruby Woo, Russian Red and MAC Red. For cheaper options I have Makeup Revolution's Pro Iconic lipstick in Propoganda, Salvation Intense Lacquer in A Love Like That and Freedom Makeup's Pro Red 108 Expression, but you might know already that I'm just not feeling these three, well at least you'll still hear that soon about the last one, but they are very budget friendly. The other closest other nail polish I have is Essie's Really Red, but it's a neutral shade, so almost doesn't fit here any more.

The Vampy One

Not everyone can muster up the courage to go so dark and yet I find such shades of red the easiest to wear, especially in colder months. Classic reds look too classy for everyday and orange reds look super punchy, but with burgundies I feel much more at ease. There was a time when I wore Rimmel's Matte Lipstick in 107 every day, but I have to say that the days of that lipstick came to an end the moment I found L'Oreal's Colour Riche in Laetitia. It is everything I dreamed of a burgundy lipstick to be. It's from the same collection as Blake and it has that same gorgeous matte formula. I paired it with Essence's Colour & Go in Do You Speak Love on the nails, which Essence discontinued in this formula, but I believe the shade is still the same or possibly very similar in the new Gel Nails line. The perfect lip liner to pair up with such shades is Catrice's Longlasting Lip Pencil in Berryson Ford.

I have no shortage of burgundies in my collection, it is after all my favourite colour for autumn. For lip colour alternatives I already mentioned Rimmel's 107, others include Bourjois's Rouge Edition Velvet in 08 Grand Cru and for those who don't want to go matte, Rimmel's Apocalips in Eclipse. Nice nail polish options are OPI's Malaga Wine, Revlon's Parfumerie in Bordeaux and for those who want to amp the vamp factor go for Essie's Sole Mate.