Tag: affordable brands

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Beauty

Recent Eye Makeup Products

mascara brow pencil eye liner

Isn’t this the greatest photo to ever grace the beauty blogging scene? It ought to be. Unfortunately, I couldn’t reshoot, because these were all empties that got thrown out the minute I snapped this picture.

Though I brought back the Outgoing! posts, there’s still a bit of a backlog of stuff I’ve used up when I wasn’t doing any empties sharing with you. These eye makeup products are one such thing.

Chanel Mascara, sample size

I suppose this has a more precise name, but I don’t know it. I loved using this, though I found the brush a bit unyielding and messy. My main gripe was that it dried out. so. fast. I don’t know if it was just my sample, or the air in my room, or something else, but seriously. I got this sample for free with a magazine, but I imagine how pissed I would have been if I had paid an indecent amount of money for a luxury mascara, only to find it barely alive about two weeks later.

Curious: How have Chanel mascaras fared for you? I want to invest in a big size one, but if it dries out in a couple of weeks, well, then I don’t want to any more. 😛

Relouis eyeliner pencil

Relouis eyeliner pencil has been my go-to brow pencil until I ran out of it. It was difficult to use as an eyeliner – rather low pigmentation, not a lot of staying power, the formula is just on that side of being a touch too harsh… – but as a brow pencil? Gimme. I think I’m going to repurchase it once I run out of my current OFRA brow pencil.

AVON DIVA Eyeliner

This AVON eyeliner was a purchase influenced entirely by nostalgia. Long time ago Oriflame came out with a similarly themed collection, and my mother bought me the entire range of that as a gift. When I saw this AVON offering I had thought of mum immediately, and had to snap it up. This is actually a very good eyeliner. It is a dark silver grey that is not matte but not sparkly either. Stayed put throughout the day. The brush was thin and easy to work with even for someone like me. It also lasted me a while and kept really well. Didn’t dry out one bit – and honestly, the only reason I’ve given it up was because it’s hella old. I don’t even want to tell you how old it was lest you shun me off the face of the beauty internets. This was a limited edition collection, but I would totally buy again.

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Beauty

Oriflame Optimals Seeing is Believing Eye Cream

Oriflame Optimals Seeing is Believing Eye Cream

To be honest, until recently I’ve been fully prepared to give this Oriflame Optimals Seeing is Believing Eye Cream if not a fully negative, then a lacklustre review at best. Yeah, an eye cream. Sure, better than nothing. Meh, comes in glass, good.

But then one day I’ve been awake for more hours than it’s decent to be awake for, and my eyes were burning and feeling very heavy inside my skull. I took out my contacts, washed my face, half-arsedly applied some moisturiser, and then decided that I need to go in with an eye cream as well.

That was a very wise decision, because my eye area felt instant relief. It was a very cooling, refreshing, ever so lightly tingling (in a good, absolutely non-burning way) sensation. For a while there it didn’t hurt to blink.

Now, I can’t tell you how long the effect of Oriflame Optimals Seeing is Believing Eye Cream lasted, because I went to bed and promptly fell asleep for once.

Other things I’d like to tell you about Oriflame Optimals Seeing is Believing Eye Cream:

The packaging is cute, and the colour is nice, and I love the fact that it’s glass – but mate, it’s not convenient. I have no problems with creams in jars. Unlike many, I do not feel squeamish about possible contamination or something. It’s just that the jar of Oriflame Optimals Seeing is Believing Eye Cream is pretty small, and the glass is slippery, and it requires certain finger dexterity to maneuver the product around, especially as you reach the last few uses.

The jar will last you a long while.

Oriflame Optimals Seeing is Believing Eye Cream often appears in Oriflame catalogues with a good discount. I recommend that you wait for the discount, because the product is not worth its full price.

In short: Oriflame Optimals Seeing is Believing Eye Cream is great at cooling and moisturising the eye area. It will help fight puffiness, and I am inclined to agree with its claims to brighten the eye area, if only a little. It will not do much else, however. If fine lines are your problem, you need a heavier artillery.

That said, I’m on my second (maybe third) jar of Oriflame Optimals Seeing is Believing Eye Cream, and I plan to repurchase.

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Beauty

Chistaya Liniya: Recent Hits and Misses

For those who don’t know, Chistaya Liniya (Чистая Линия, translates as Clean Line) is a very affordable skincare and hair care line from Russia. As with any brands of its caliber, some of the products are outstanding, others atrocious, and many are nothing to write home about. Today, let’s take a look at a couple of products from my empties box.

chistaya-linia-hair-conditioners

First up are two hair conditioners: Chistaya Liniya Phytotherapy Phytobalm-Elixir Impulse of Youth 25+ with Chicory and Chistaya Liniya Phytotherapy Smart Balm #1 Strength and Freshness for Greasy Hair and Scalp with Buckwheat.

Them brands really need to tone it down with their names.

The hair conditioner with chicory is a newer line. I really liked its scent. The effect on my hair wasn’t anything extraordinary, but it did its job just fine. The packaging is OK. My only gripe was its top – I love using every last bit of the product, and it’s hard to keep a bottle balanced whilst upside down with a top like that.

The hair conditioner with buckwheat (the one in the white bottle) is not as sleek-looking. It also doesn’t smell as nice as the revamped line, but it performed better. Moisturising without weighing the hair down. I used it up fast, but for its price, I’m OK with that. The only reason I don’t buy it all the time is its scent. It’s not offensive, but it just doesn’t agree with me.

chistaya-linia-footcream

Chistaya Liniya Phytotherapy Foot Cream with Lavender

One of those products that you don’t quite know what to say about, but that did its job quite well. I loved using it before bed. Whether I’d put on socks or not, it would leave my feet very soft the next morning. This cream had a rather thin consistency and absorbed quickly, which is also good. I would probably buy it again – once I run out of the army of foot creams I’d bought in the interim.

chistaya-linia-scrub

Chistaya Liniya Phytotherapy Soft Scrub with Raspberry and Lingonberry

I came into the shop and asked for a lip scrub. This is what the saleslady recommended I buy. I bought it because it was cheap and I could use a scrub. I knew from the start I wouldn’t be able to use it for the purpose I bought it for – even though it’s marketed as a ‘soft’ scrub, it’s not soft enough for the gentle skin on the lips. I tried using it on my face, but unfortunately it broke me out like a mother. So this ended up as a body scrub. It was soft enough to use on the decolletage. Will I buy it again? Probably not.