Category: Beauty

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Beauty

FOTD #2: Bold lips, muted lids.

face of the day 2

Products used:

  • Foundation: MAC Studio Fix Fluid NW10
  • Powder: IsaDora Perfect Loose Powder
  • Highlighter: Giordani Gold Opulent Night Pearls 27115
  • Concealer: Artdeco Mineral Fluid Concealer in 04
  • Eye shadow Primer: Artdeco Pure Minerals Mineral Eyeshadow Base Sensitive
  • Eye Shadow: AVON True Colour in Lace Hues
  • Brows: Relouis Eye Pencil in 02
  • Lipstick: L’Oreal Infallible Never Fail Lip Colour in Garnet 750
  • Mascara: Maybelline The Falsies Volum’ Express Flared Mascara

I’ve had this lipstick since ever. It’s expired by now, so I think I’m going to let it go during my next monthly clean-out. Or perhaps just place it in a separate compartment where I keep all my nostalgic purchases. It’s a good lipstick, but for it to work your lips need to be in very good condition. It will highlight every flake and every dry patch, and while the balm on top will soothe and smooth, it will not really affect the visual. For some reason I was under the impression that this product was discontinued, but it’s still available. As long as you don’t attack oily foods with abandon, it will last you for about 6 hours no problem, all while eating, drinking, talking, etc. with the lightest amount of caution. Word of warning, though — there’s no touching up this lipstick, only a complete reapplication.

The muted pink and blue in this quad are gorgeous, aren’t they? I love these colours so much. I went on a bit of a binge a few years ago and bought… six AVON eye shadow quads? They have since then rebranded the line and made the insides square, which diminished their obvious visual likeness to CHANEL. While I really like many of the colours — why would I buy them otherwise? — I am not at all impressed with the quality. The mattes are chalky, not easy to blend, nearly every single shadow is poorly pigmented, and all of them have excessive amounts of fall-out. Don’t expect them to last more than three hours without a primer either. With primer, they usually last about five, but begin to show signs of wear a bit earlier. Perhaps with the visual update came an update of the formula? I might want to find out a bit later, but for now I’ll be exploring other brands.

Something is to be said about using grey as eyebrow definer instead of brown. Brown can be very hard to match to your natural colouring. It’s either too red, or too coppery, or too dark, or too light. Most of the time it’s visible, especially in photographs. While grey is a true neutral colour. It’s non-colour, so defining your brows with grey works really well. There are only that many things to worry with grey — the desired lightness/ darkness and – a must – a matte finish. The aforementioned Artdeco make a great little grey eyeshadow that I really enjoyed using not only for its determined purpose, but also for brows and for slight contouring, especially of my rather prominent nose. I smashed the poor darling beyond all repair not long ago. It’s on my list of repurchases. I’ll be sure to write a review and swatch it once it’s done.

Try using grey for your brows, I’m pretty sure it’ll work.

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Beauty

Today’s Scent: Agent Provocateur Eau Emotionnelle.

agent provocateur official image

I’ve just spent about seven minutes staring at my screen blankly. See, I want a series about perfumes, but I have no idea how to write about them, or what to say. I don’t have the world’s best nose — not even close — and my tastes are… I wanted to say ‘selective’, but really, they’re just rather queer. The ridiculously expensive scents reside right next to the ridiculously cheap. Flirty and floral, musky and seductive, lighthearted, or sweet, or heavy — I don’t have a refined palate.

September this year my bottle of Eau Emotionnelle will turn eight years old. Eight years! By then it will be finished, since there’s only very little left. I included the official image, because my bottle, as you can imagine, looks rather dingy.

IMG_20150111_135844

I lost the release ring and the bit of lace attached a long while ago. Agent Provocateur Eau Emotionnelle is my go-to perfume. I can’t think of a scenario that would make this perfume inappropriate. It’s great all year round, both for work and for fun. Overall a really well-rounded scent. I’ve never had the original, only heard it described as quite heady. Compared to my other favourites, this is almost light. It opens up floral, and then proceeds to darken.

On my skin this is very long lasting, but with moderate sillage.

eau emotionnelle

Originally released in 2006, Eau Emotionnelle has since then been discontinued — a fate that seems to befall every single perfume I genuinely enjoy. It is still relatively easy to find on Ebay and the likes, and it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg either, like some other recently deceased favourites. (Looking at you, Midnight Poison, looking. at. you.)

(Official product image nicked from Fragrantica.)

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Beauty

Two Nivea Products: Toner and Cream.

nivea toner and face cream

Nivea Pure & Natural Moisturising Day Care

I had two samples of this face cream, and I remember falling in love. It felt buttery smooth during the application, but didn’t leave any shiny residue and didn’t look oily, just glowing.

Well, there’s something to be said about testers and samples always being better than the actual product, because the cream in the jar, while it wasn’t bad, simply didn’t live up to the expectations set by the sample.

nivea pure natural face cream

I used this up before the freezing temperatures set, but during the milder months of September-November I say it fared well in terms of hydration. I wouldn’t expect miracles, and if you have dehydrated skin, then you need to look for something more hardworking. It doesn’t help keep your face matte, but it doesn’t add any oiliness to it either.

The container is a glass with a plastic lid. It holds the standard 50 ml of product. The scent of this cream, although strong, didn’t annoy me, even when I had headache spells.

Overall, it’s a standard enough cream for its price range. Oriflame Optimals costs about as much, and I think I would’ve gone for another jar of that instead of Nivea Pure & Natural.

Nivea Aqua Effect Purifying Toner

Formulated for oily skin and claims to be mattifying. I haven’t noticed my skin being any more matte, but it didn’t throw my sebum into overdrive either. I used it during a bit of a mishap with a face washer by a different brand. The washer gave me irritation, and I can say that this toner was safe to use even on irritated skin. It didn’t take the redness and sensitivity any further, though perhaps it hasn’t assisted in cooling my face either — but it doesn’t claim to do that, so I’m fine with it.

nivea toner

The 200 ml bottle lasted me for about two-two and a half months, which is saying something, because usually I go through toners really quickly. The scent is a rather standard Nivea one — if you’ve ever used their Nivea Creme (the one in the blue jar), then you know approximately how this toner smells like.

While not a bad product and one that I might return in the future, right now I’m looking for a product that would help me gently exfoliate the skin day to day, which was something that this toner didn’t do.

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Beauty

Weekly Treat: Lip Monthly December ’14.

lip monthly december 2014

Thought I’d combine this week’s Weekly Treat post with Lip Monthly arrival, because receiving the bag is enough of a treat on its own. It arrived last week, and brought a bit of joy to an otherwise crappy day.

First, the bag: My favourite design so far, but unfortunately mine came with a bit of a faulty zipper. It closes well, but hasn’t been sewn on properly, so there’s a bit of a gap at one end. Regardless, this is my next designated work makeup bag.

Here’s the list of products:

  • Magnolia Makeup Lipstick with Applicator in Matador
  • Milani Brilliant Shine Gloss in Nude Touch
  • LA Girl Endless Automatic Liner in Mauvelous
  • NYC Lipstick in Mocha

lip monthly december 14

Let’s get the last one out of the way first — I haven’t opened it yet, because I might just give it away to someone. I’m not sure if I’d ever be able to wear this colour, even if I had suddenly decided on a complete and total 90s revival. You never know, but for now it stays closed.

lip monthly milani lip gloss

I’ve never had anything from Milani, so I enjoyed it if only for the novelty factor. I like the applicator — it’s flexible, and due to its shape it picks up enough product without the need to dip the wand back into the tube several times, thus making it that bit more hygienic. It really does have a brilliant shine, and lasts rather well on the lips. The scent is vanilla-ish, which is pretty standard for glosses. Beware, though, it’s sticky as hell. It doesn’t bother me much, because that’s just how lip glosses work, but I know it might put off some people.

lip monthly la girl automatic lip liner

The LA Girl lipliner is a subdued wine hue — the colour is called Mauvelous, and it’s rather fitting. It positions itself as semi-permanent which is, of course, bollocks. It does last a long time, however. Can’t exactly say how long, because as of now I’ve only worn it for about four hours before voluntarily removing. I have several lipsticks that match the tone of this pencil, so it will be seeing a lot of wear around these lands. Formula-wise, it’s a bit on the dry side, so if you’re like me and prefer to fill in your lips with pencil as well as outline, take care to moisturise beforehand.

lip monthly magnolia matador

Last but not least, Magnolia Matador. I’ve seen this get a bit of a bad rap in several Lip Monthly reviews, but I happen to disagree. This is a brilliant product if applied properly. Sure, the packaging looks a bit dodgy, but the product inside is great.

First, you don’t need a lot. Like, at all. If you’ve ever worked with OCC Lip Tars, let them be your guide. I think it’s also a bit similar to Lip Ink in terms of application — it needs to be applied to dry lips, and if you want a more sheer or more vibrant shade, you need to blot the wand, not the lips, then apply in several layers, letting them fully dry inbetween.

It dries to a gorgeous velvet/ powdery completely matte shade. It lasts well on the lips, but unlike some other long-lasting lip products, it is very easy to remove using an oil-based makeup remover.

The downsides of this product are: it’s runny and therefore messy — not on-the-go kind of lipstick; it feathers, so definitely use a clear/ matching lip liner with this one; due to its matte/ powdery nature, it will highlight every single imperfection you might have on your lips, so scrubbing and conditioning your lips is a must. Just don’t use a balm directly under the product, otherwise it wouldn’t work.

It sounds so complicated, but once you figure out how this works, it’s a breeze. I really enjoy using this.

lip monthly december 14 swatches

Left to right: Magnolia Matador, LA Girl Mauvelous, Milani Nude Touch.

Are you subscribed to Lip Monthly? What are your thoughts on these products?

(This post contains an affiliate link.)

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Beauty

FOTD #1: nude lips, grey lids.

face of the day products

The FOTD in the title is a lie – I wore this on Saturday, when I wanted to look a bit laid back, but still put together enough.

The list of products:

  • Foundation – Giordani Gold Mineral Therapy Foundation in Porcelain 25376
  • Concealer – Artdeco Mineral Fluid Concealer in 04
  • Eyeshadow Primer – Artdeco pure minerals Mineral Eyeshadow Base Sensitive
  • Face Powder – Relouis Dolly in 007
  • Lipstick 1 – J.Cats Beauty Fantabulous Lipstick in FL107 Honeycrisp
  • Lipstick 2 – GOSH Velvet Touch Lipstick in 134 Darling (doh)
  • Lipgloss – Milani Brilliant Shine Lip Gloss in 11 Nude Touch
  • Eyeshadow – Oriflame The One Colour Match Eye Shadow Duo in Grey 30971
  • Mascara – Maybelline The Falsies Volum’ Express Flared Mascara

Either of the two nude lipsticks used on their own looks a bit off on me. The J.Cats Honeycrisp is too yellow, whilst the GOSH Darling is too pink. When used together, though, they make the perfect tone. Lip gloss on top evens out any rough patches that nude lipsticks just love to highlight.

I am a little bit dissatisfied with the shadow primer, but will wait until issuing any kind of verdict and try using it with different shadows.