Tag: face

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Beauty

Diadermine Essential Care Balancing Gel.

diadermine face washer for normal to combo skin

(Two notes about the photo: First, I apologise for quality. Second, it’s not a typo, nor is it a counterfeit product: Diadermine is called Diademine in Russia and CIS. It’s due to phonetics.)

This is what happens when I shop with someone else and am rushed: I buy things I haven’t read a lot about, ending up with products that are a poor fit for my skin.

Upon the first few tries this product was okay. My skin felt a bit tight after using it, but nothing out of the ordinary. Being the possessor of oily skin, sometimes I welcome such tightness. I continued to use it for a while, and then my skin started looking red after. The redness dissipated in a minute, and tightness could be fixed with moisturiser and a mask 2-3 times a week. I couldn’t decide on another washer, and didn’t want to go back to my old one or purchase another dud, so I continued using Diadermine’s.

But then one day I ran out of make-up remover and used Garnier’s micellar water to remove make-up all over my face prior to washing it.

And my face inflamed.

I swear I was as red as an oddly cool-toned tomato. For a moment I wanted to take a picture, but then my nerve endings caught up with my optical, and my skin started burning. Luckily I remembered that I had Oriflame’s Aloe Vera & Arnica gel still, so I applied that sucker all over my face. Didn’t have much hope, but: It took the redness and the burning down immediately. I watched it go in the span of seconds. It left my face both refreshed and moisturised.

Call me an idiot, but I’m still using the washer – because I currently don’t have anything else, and if I skip at least one of the wash-tone-moisturise steps, I break out. I use it very sparingly, taking care to use a tiny amount and mix it with water in my hands prior to coating my face with it, and I don’t massage my face too much. When used like this, it’s OK. Better than soap, but I cannot recommend it either.

It doesn’t dry the skin out, and it doesn’t provoke break-outs or additional congestion for me (in fact, it clears it up), as some of the so-called balancing washers sometimes do. I’m not sure where the ‘supports skin’s hydra balance’ promise comes from, though, because that’s something this product doesn’t do.

I really hope that The Burn was an isolated incident. It didn’t happen again so far, although I never tried repeating the Garnier micellar water/ Diadermine washer combo, nor do I intend to.

Long story short, I’m in the market for a good facial cleanser, and I will not be repurchasing this one.

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Beauty

GOSH Velvet Touch Lipstick in Darling #134

I have a love/ hate relationship with this lipstick. Most of the time it looks very good on me, but sometimes it makes me look like death warmed over, and not in a good gothy way either. I think it depends on the light.

This lipstick is creamy and moisturising. It feels relatively good on the lips, but has little staying power. It also accentuates the smallest flake of skin, so it’s best to exfoliate and moisturise your lips before applying this one. However, don’t apply it over balm or chapstick. Like I said, it’s creamy, so when applied over anything other than clean lips, it acts really weird.

The internet tells me that GOSH is a drugstore brand. You’d never be able to tell that from around here. Here it is treated quite well, with its own boutique in only two select department stores, a make-up artist to help you with a make-over, large catalogues, etc., etc. The price is usually higher than the one I see mentioned on other blogs.

I love the matte black packaging of this line of GOSH lipsticks. This is the best kind of packaging for me, without all the frills and pinks and shinies.

I am not sure whether I’ll be getting this colour again (can’t always control the light, you know), but I really want to try other shades in this line. I’m interested in Burgundy and Mandarina in particular, but I don’t think I’ve seen them around here.

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Beauty

Lip Monthly June ’15.

lip monthly june 2015

This is a short post, as I have yet to use any of the products that came with the June Lip Monthly subscription bag, with the exception of the be a… bombshell lipstick.

J. Cat Beauty Flying Solo Eyeshadow in FSE 126 Ticket to Stardom

At a glance this shadow has too much red in it to be flattering on me, but I’ll use it in looks and see how it works. Maybe as a crease colour, but I doubt even that. I’m thinking of trying it as a blush, but it might not work either. We’ll see.

be a… bombshell lipstick in Hollywood

Loved the packaging of the be a… bombshell lipstick. It’s reminiscent of MAC, but even if it weren’t, I just love the no-frills matte black lipstick bullets. The colour is a retro red with a brick undertone. It’s not very me, but I think we can work around that, this lipstick and I. It’s creamy and pigmented. The coverage is good. It’s more of an autumn lipstick shade in my books, though, so a surprising choice for a June subscription bag.

be a bombshell hollywood

This is the second be a… bombshell product I’ve received through my Lip Monthly subscription. I loved the gloss I’ve been sent, and this lipstick isn’t a disappointment either. Swatched below.

be a bombshell hollywood swatch

So Susan Colour Hybrid in the shade Marsala

This product I am yet to open. It comes in a squeeze tube, designed to be used on both lips and cheeks. I can safely say that I’ll be using it on lips only. Cream products don’t fare well with my face.

jelly pong pong fig jam

Jelly Pong Pong Lip/Cheek Cream in Fig Jam

… And another product that’s designed to be used all over yer face. The colour is very bright, but I don’t know if it is sheer or has full coverage. The packaging is really hefty. It feels heavy, and I love the simple black and white design of the lid. In my experience, cream products in such packaging dry out very fast, so I’m keeping this closed until I run out of the similar shade I own.

This post isn’t very informative, now is it? I’ll be using these and writing about them in more detail eventually, I promise. For now I just want to catch up on the Lip Monthly subscription itself. Such a backlog! If you missed a post, you can find them all here.

Lip Monthly is a subscription bag with a focus on lip products. One month is $12.95 (plus shipping outside US and Canada).

(This post features affiliate links.)

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Beauty

FOTD #3: Matte Skin, Grape Lips.

fotd 3

One of these days I’m going to find a flattering selfie angle, and actually share photos of the result. For now, lookie how I arrange them products on lined paper, eh. Eh, eh?!

Face:

  • Foundation – Oriflame Matte Control Foundation
  • Face Powder – IsaDora Perfect Loose Powder
  • Concealer – Bourjois 123 PERFECT CC EYE CREAM

A discontinued version of the Oriflame Matte foundation. I swear, Oriflame‘s been rebranding like there’s no tomorrow. It’s an OK foundation with medium coverage, but I’m just not sure. When it comes out of the tube, it’s a bit on the yellow/ grey side, which makes me all giddy inside. Yes, I said grey, and yes, giddy. But when you apply it and it oxidises a bit, it a) becomes about a tone darker than in the tube; b) loses all the yellowness and greyness and goes pink. And I do not need pink undertones in my face makeup, nuh uh.

Why am I suddenly accenting about every other word with italics?

Moving on.

The concealer I used for undereye only. I wish it were a lighter shade. It’s an OK concealer, but I don’t think I’d be repurchasing it.

Eyes:

  • Eyeshadow Primer – Artdeco pure minerals Mineral Eyeshadow Base Sensitive
  • Inglot AMC Shine 49
  • Oriflame The ONE Colour Impact Cream Eye Shadow Petroleum Shine 30748
  • Oriflame The One Colour Match Eye Shadow Duo in Brown 30970
  • Avon Hollywood quad
  • Mascara – Oriflame HyperStretch Mascara
  • Oriflame Eyelash Curlers

Inglot was used all over the lid. It’s one of my favourite eye shadows ever. The Colour Impact Cream Eye Shadow is beginning to dry around the edges a little bit, I need to use it more often. It doesn’t last particularly long on the lid, so that limits my ability to wear it, especially since it’s such a deep shade of green. The brown duo doesn’t last long as well, but it’s a pretty neutral shade, so I wear it more often. I used the lightest colour in the Avon Hollywood quad in the inner corners of my eyes.

In all honesty, the colours looked much better together in my head. It worked, but it wasn’t exactly what I was going for.

Brows:

  • Relouis pencil
  • Avon Hollywood quad

Now that I used the lightest shade in the quad for the brow bone (not like I haven’t before, but you know), I keep thinking that the matte brown might work for brows themselves. I’m one of those lucky people who don’t need a lot of filling in or drawing, but it’s still good to give a few strokes here and there just to even things out, especially if you’ve got a full face of makeup going on.

Lips:

  • Oriflame Lip Impact Deep Berry 26573

This is the discontinued version of the Oriflame lip crayons. They have since then released the new ones that you don’t have to sharpen (yay), but I’m not sure what they’ve done to the formula. I’m going to try one soon and report on that.

I was going to do a separate post for each and every crayon I own, because I just love lip crayons like I used to love the damn Crayolas when I was a kid. This is a deep grape colour that’s perfect for autumn.

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Beauty

Lip Monthly: May ’15.

lip monthly may 2015

May ’15 Lip Monthly came in a yellow bag. For some reason this particular shade of yellow was even easier soiled than white. I rotate all Lip Monthly bags as my work make-up bags. Usually I carry them for a month, but this one I retired after about two weeks.

jing ai velvet shine lip jewel in raspberry ice

Jing Ai Lip Pencil in Raspberry Ice

Lip crayons! My love. Love the packaging, very simple and elegant. This is a bright pink-red berry colour. Very flattering on my skin tone. The formula is creamy. For better precision it’s better to even this one out with a lip brush, especially around the contour. This lip crayon is very pigmented, and also stains a fair amount.

nyc new york colors sky rise mascara in extreme black

NYC Sky Rise Lengthening Mascara in Extreme Black

Unopened! I have a queue of mascaras I need to try, and this one is second on the list, if my memory doesn’t fail me.

ofra long lasting liquid lipstick in new orleans

OFRA Long Lasting Liquid Lipstick in New Orleans

This is a second OFRA lipstick I own. The first one, Laguna Beach, I received via Lip Monthly several months ago. Now, I’d be honest – this isn’t a colour I would’ve bought on my own. It’s interesting to play with, and I have a few looks in mind that I’d wear it with. But this is an experimental shade for me, and I cannot see myself wearing this one too often. My skin is pale, and this is not the best shade to work with, especially if you have huge under-eye bags like I do.

However the quality of this lipstick formula is indisputable. It’s a true matte. Applies evenly, very easy to spread, and requires minimum correction on the contour of your lips. Use sparingly, as the doe foot applicator picks up a generous amount of product, and you honestly don’t need much for a fully covered lip.

As with all bold colours, make sure your lips are exfoliated and soft.

Read about OFRA Laguna Beach here.

milani power lip in pink lemonade

Milani Power Lip Gloss Stain in Pink Lemonade

Unopened as yet! Will write a separate review once I use it.

lip monthly may 2015 swatches

OFRA and Jing Ai swatches. I’ll have you know these things stain like a mother. The gold stroke under them is an eye liner that my flatmate bought. I swatched it on my hand and realised that I absolutely must have one of my own. I’ve been searching for an affordable gold eye liner for ages for an eye look that I want to recreate, and it looks like I found one.

Lip Monthly is a subscription bag with a focus on lip products. One month is $12.95 (plus shipping outside US and Canada).

(This post features affiliate links.)