Tag: mascara

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Beauty

My Egyptian Makeup Kit: Eyes

Let’s go back to roots: I want to have a chat about makeup, starting with a series of posts about makeup I took with me to Egypt. I was packing for three weeks, you know. So the photo in this post features all the eye makeup I took with me.

Except that unfortunate eyeliner that didn’t make it into any photos, but it’s nothing to write home about. Just a black dip liquid eyeliner with a marker tip. Very inexpensive, effective. Seen better, seen worse. If you’re in a pinch but jonesin’ for some liquid eyeliner, grab that Golden Rose one.

Let’s get down to business then, shall we.

Pink and gold tubes are black and blue mascaras. The black one is by Oriflame, and I still think that Oriflame has some of the best mascaras on the market out there, and for reasonable prices too. The formulas and brushes are diverse. I’ve been getting angrier and angrier with Oriflame recently for its business and ethics, but the product is solid.

The gold tube is a blue version of the Russian market cult favourite – Vivienne Sabo Cabaret mascara. It’s a blue that actually shows up on your lashes and also does something besides just giving them colour. I like it. Got it in a BOGO-free situation when buying a present for somebody, so didn’t even spend a dime on it, technically.

The black tube is a brow gel from L’Oreal x Isabel Marant collection. It’s a transparent gel that gives a good (I should even say great) hold without glueing your brow hairs together. The spoolie is tiny, kinda triangle-shaped, and excellent for this type of product. I think once I’m done with the gel, I’ll keep the spoolie around. It has no colour, and leaves no white cast – at first it looks like it might, but it dries down completely transparent. Doesn’t give any weird gloss either. I wish L’Oreal weren’t so asinine in their ethics, because I’d LOVE to repurchase this. However, L’Oreal has been on my radar for various forms of BS for quite a while now. I will have to shop around for something else once this gel runs out.

Artdeco Eyebrow Powder in 2 is more of a shadow, not a powder. I’ve been using it for years now. This is my second, the first one I dropped and broke beyond my then repressing skills. Artdeco Eyebrow Powder in this medium grey tone is ideal for my needs. It was good on me when I still had dark brown hair, and it’s perfect with black. I think as long as I’m using powdered products for my brows and keep my hair a cooler shade of dark, I’ll be using this one.

Avon True Glimmerstick in Cobalt Cool. My first impression was disappointment, because the liner wasn’t half as pigmented as I was expecting, and also dry. But then the tip broke off… It’s still not as intense as, say, Inglot gel pot liners, but for the price point it’s quite decent, and lets me achieve a look that I want – namely a neutral shadow with vibrant liner and matching mascara.

Now, the palettes. I wrote about them in detail before, but I feel like I want to update my impressions in full, with good photos and a new set of swatches. Besides, I made those old posts private. Hmm.

Maybe later. Would you like some aged perspective on some old releases?

Speaking of age. They’re about the same, and I must say that INGLOT outperforms MAC in the department of ageing by quite a degree. MAC is now much drier, much crumblier, and the staying power has gone down by at least two hours. The same thing cannot be said about INGLOT – it’s like the damn thing hasn’t aged a day. And the INGLOT pans are as big as they’re deep. I’m getting drunk off my arse if I ever hit pan in an INGLOT shadow, mark my words.

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Beauty

Products I’ve Used Up – September 2017

In September I restated my empties. I’ve lost count to the amount of products I finished for my #100empties challenge, but it’s been more than one hundred, of that I am sure. Felt like a fresh start – and also felt like increasing the number to 365. So, #365empties.

Here’s what I finished in September.

body respect aloe vera cleansing gel

Body Respect Aloe Vera Cleansing Gel

(That’s a bit of tobacco stuck to the pump if you’re wondering. Eww, a smoker, etc. etc.)

I bought this because my friend bought this, and I like trying new things. The scent of this was heavenly – whenever I used it, I felt like I was just pushing my face into a huge pot of apple jelly, although I cannot 100% state that this smells anything like apples. Weird, I know, just describing the sensation here. The texture was great too – it was cooling and smooth. Didn’t find it drying, and on light make-up days it cleansed well. Had trouble with silicone in my foundation and primer, though, and didn’t do well with most mascaras.

An okay product that I’m in no rush to repurchase.

dove go fresh cucumber deodorant

Dove Go Fresh Cucumber Deodorant

I bought Dove Go Fresh Cucumber deodorant thanks to a casual recommendation from a blogger I no longer even read. Since then it has become a firm staple in my routine, and I will buy it again, and again, and again. I find it a bit on the pricey side on certain months, but whenever I can, I stock up on several to always have this Dove antiperspirant around. It’s usually on a buy one get second one for half price offer in one of the local shops, so I take advantage of that.

Dove Go Fresh Cucumber is one of the only deodorant scents that I absolutely do not mind. It also never gave me any irritation whatsoever. I could shave, depilate, epilate, and do whatever the hell else to my armpits, and then apply this straight after some rough towel drying – and Dove Go Fresh Cucumber and Green Tea will help soothe the skin. It requires no drying time, but could leave some white streaks on your clothes if you dress right after, so I usually apply it before going to bed, and find there’s no need to reapply in the morning.

I will buy it as long as it is around.

faberlic bust push-up cream

Faberlic Bust Push-Up Cream

I can’t really comment on its push-up qualities, but I’m pretty sure anyone size C and up won’t see any. However, it is a decent moisturiser. Absorbs quickly, so there’s no trouble using this cream right before I dress for the day. There is perhaps a certain improvement in the overall quality of skin, but it’s no magic. Oddly smells of lemons. I’m currently going through the second tube of this, which I bought together with this one.

Might buy again when on offer, with its moisturising properties in mind.

faberlic raspberry and white chocolate body scrub

Faberlic Raspberry and White Cocolate Body Scrub

A gentle scrub with a delicious scent. This looks just like a raspberry jam would, so it’s no wonder the packaging actually has ‘inedible’ written all over it. The white chocolate scent is also present, although it’s quite high on the artificial side. Because of the jelly consistency, sometimes I found it hard to spread and massage evenly over the skin. The exfoliation is fine, but sometimes I felt like a certain area with rougher skin needed more work. Works great on the decolletage, though.

Will buy again when on offer.

not your mother's nym purifying shampoo

NYM Not Your Mother’s ‘Clean Freak’ Purifying Shampoo

NYM Not Your Mother’s products have been such a hit and miss for me! There’s no official representative here, so all I tried, I got from the grey market. So far I’ve tried two types of shampoos, a conditioner, and a UV protector. This shampoo is okay, but I wouldn’t go as far as calling it purifying – though perhaps there’s a certain meaning that I put into this word that doesn’t quite align with the brand’s philosophy of not using harsh cleaners in their products. Plus I’m very fussy when it comes to shampoos. Very fussy.

When I did not wash my hair for three days, I certainly needed a stronger product, as I could still find oily patches in my hair after washing the shampoo off. Was easy to work into hair and easy to wash off. Nice scent.

Might buy again.

beyu concealer

BeYu Light Reflecting Concealer in shade 5

The product looks full, but rest assured there’s nothing left there. I’ve used up all I could, and what remains has become dry, oxidised, and flaky. This is a good, rather heavy-duty concealer, although I found that come end of the workweek I needed two layers of BeYu Light Reflecting Concealer, especially in the inner corners of my undereye area, where it gets especially dark. Sometimes it would also accentuate all the existent and nonexistent fine lines, even if I would set it with my ever-wonderful Elf undereye setting powder.

Shade 5 is the lightest available on the local market – I honestly don’t know if BeYu makes lighter shades than that. It might as well, because 5 is rather yellow and dark for me in autumn and winter. I can work with it, but I’d rather it were lighter. While I use BeYu Light Reflecting Concealer mostly under my eyes, I found that it works fine to hide an occasional spot as well. It also works great to even out pores around my nose (though not on it, mind).

The lady at the shop touted it as a dupe for a Clarins concealer.Having never tried any Clarins products, I cannot comment. Will I buy again? I’m currently using up a hand-me-down from a friend – hers did not suit her at all. After that, I might repurchase this, because the price and the shade and the texture are one of the best I’ve encountered locally.

We’ll see.

faberlic express volume mascara

Faberlic Express Volume Mascara

Dude. I bought this at complete random, because it was on some epic offer. When I opened it, I was disappointed by the shape of the brush (tiny), and the formula felt runny and sticky. I used it once, and then forgot about it for two weeks or so. And when I tried it again, it was suddenly one of the best mascaras I’ve ever used. It doesn’t quite catch up to my (discontinued) favourite from Giordani Gold (scroll way down) or Misslyn Sexy Lashes, but two coats would give me lots of volume and drama – and even a bit of a curl! Nothing gives my lashes a curl.

I gave a tube of this to my BFF, however her review isn’t as glorious – she still finds it runny and rather useless. I then sold a tube of this to a colleague, so I’m going to ask her opinion as well.

Me, I’ll be getting another tube of this once I’m done with some other mascaras in my stash.

faberlic express volume mascara wand and brush

October is over already, and I’ve got quite a few finished products in my empties bag. I’ll put up a post about them in the next two weeks, God willing.

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Beauty

On Trial in May 2017 – AVON, Relouis, Faberlic

The start of a new series? We shall see. I intend to pick up several products and give them a good use throughout the month. They could be completely new or they could be some poor unfortunate souls stuck in the limbo of my collection. Since I’m on a semi-no-buy, it will more than likely be the latter.

In May, however, all the products were new.

relouis complimenti! face powder

Relouis Complimenti! Compact Powder in 01 (lightest)

My old compact powder (coincidentally by Relouis as well) finally gave up the ghost, so I went and bought practically the cheapest available on the local market. As much as I was OK with the previous incarnation of Relouis compact powder, I am having trouble with this one.

  • It does not appear to be as finely milled;
  • it’s very picky in terms of brushes it wants to work with;
  • it doesn’t stay put for a long time;
  • although the coverage is very light, it piles on and starts to cake, especially around my nose, as the day goes by;
  • I do not enjoy the scent;
  • it seems to be going pretty fast – if you look closely into the photo below, you will see that the ridges of the pan are already visible. They’ve been visible since the first week of usage.

complimenti! face powder

The positive factors are:

  • packaging – it’s black, white, and modern-looking;
  • the compact opens up to 180 degrees;
  • the shade. Although it has a pink undertone (I don’t), it’s light enough and sheer enough to fit my skin tone.

I wanted this to be sort of a workhorse, and although I’ll continue using it until it’s gone, I might pick up something else in the interim – something that would actually suit my needs.

avon mark finishing powder

AVON Mark. Magix HD Finishing Powder

I’ve been setting my face with Isadora Loose Powder for a while, but was on the fence about the result I was getting. Although I will not be writing off Isadora Powder completely, AVON Mark. Magix HD Finishing Powder gives me a better result. It doesn’t alter the colour of my foundation as it is truly translucent. It’s not the most finely milled powder I’ve encountered, but it’s nice enough. Gives a matte finish. The sifter is nice too – I’ve barely had an overshake with it, and I’m a chronic powder overshaker. You can also close it, so you can take the powder with you and not worry about spilling it everywhere.

avon mark finishing powder dispenser

I’m pretty sure this will stay with me for a while, and if AVON still runs them when I’m out, I’ll be repurchasing.

faberlic express volume

Faberlic EXPRESS Volume Mascara

I bought this mascara a while ago, but only opened it this month. It was a blind buy, so to say, and I had no idea the brush would be so small. So far, I’ve got mixed feelings about this: Sometimes I feel like it gives me good length and good volume; other days I feel like it gives me relatively long, but messy and spiky lashes with little to no volume. As it ages, it’s getting better.

No gripes with longevity, though. Stays put throughout the day.

faberlic mascara wand

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Beauty

Face of the Day #4: The Prodigy Show FOTD.

When was the last time I put up one of these posts? October 2015, that’s when. I should do this more often.

I went to The Prodigy show the first Saturday of June. I’ll be riding that wave for the rest of the month for sure. Make-up wise, it was the perfect opportunity to break out my black lipstick.

Here’s what I wore:

face of the day flatlay

List of products:

Face & Base:

  • face primer: Inglot Mattifying Under Makeup Base
  • eye primer: Artdeco Pure Minerals Mineral Eyeshadow Base Sensitive
  • foundation: MAC Studio Fix Fluid SPF 15 in NW10 (really old post *shudder shudder*; update coming up)
  • concealer: only God knows 😀 I think it’s BeYu
  • undereye setting powder: e.l.f. High Definition Undereye Setting Powder
  • setting powder: AVON Mark. Magix HD Finishing Powder
  • blusher: Giordani Gold Bronzing Pearls Compact Heritage Edition in Natural Radiance 33167 (very mini-review on Insta)

I am slowly beginning to tame the MAC foundation – about damn time, considering I’ve had it for so long. Plus I’m nearing the end of my stash, and don’t really want to buy anything new until I go through all the old ones. It is quite a heavy base, though, so perhaps I would need to get something lighter for the dog days of summer.

A post shared by Alexandra (@alexandrabrovco) on

Giordani Gold Bronzing Pearls Compact in Natural Radiance I praised on my Instagram a while ago, and really want to write a full-feature post about it, but I’m having problems with photographing it on my face. It’s a really natural-looking blusher – the name Natural Radiance is very apt for this product – which makes it a really good starter blusher. You have to be really heavy-handed to overdo it.

Eyes & Brows

  • brows: Artdeco Eyebrow Powder in 2
  • eyeliner & shadow base: BeYu Color Biggie in 201
  • eyeshadow: Mac Eye Shadow x15 Cool Neutral Palette, shades Pick Me Up, French Clay, Pearled Earth, and Black Tied
  • mascara: Faberlic Express Volume Mascara 5556

I’ve been using Artdeco Eyebrow Powder nearly every day for a couple of months now, and I barely made a dip in the product. Granted, I don’t use a lot – just a touch of shading and shaping, but I’m still surprised. Artdeco eyebrow powders and eye shadows don’t have a lot of product in the pan (just 0.7 g/ 0.02 oz), but considering how long it’s taking me to even make a more or less visible dip, I suppose it’s fine.

BeYu Color Biggie in 201 was my holy grail pencil for waterline. It stayed put for almost the entire day, which is unprecedented for me. Unfortunately, this time it betrayed me, but I think it’s just the matter of age. BeYu Color Biggies are no longer imported here (huge mistake), so what I bought were testers from a local retailer. Otherwise they’re really good.

I have a couple of massive projects planned for MAC Eye Shadow x 15/ Cool Neutral. 😀 Below are close-ups of the shadows I used. I wasn’t going for anything fancy – just something dark and pronounced around the eye that was reasonably blended around the edges.

mac pearled earth closeup

MAC Pearled Earth went all over the lid.

mac black tied closeup

MAC Black Tied (ugh isn’t it gorgeous) went to the outer V and was also used as a under eye liner.

mack pick me up and french clay

MAC Pick Me Up (top left) and MAC French Clay (bottom right) were used for blending out and in the inner corner.

Lips:

  • liner: Oriflame The One Gel Eye Liner Pencil 32091
  • lipstick: Golden Rose Velvet Matte Lipstick in 33

I lined my lips with Oriflame The One Gel Eye Liner Pencil, thinking that the lipstick on its own might bleed outside the edges, but ultimately I think it was a mistake. Golden Rose Velvet Matte lipstick in the shade 33 looks better on its own. I filled my lips with the eyeliner as well, and where I did that, the lipstick appeared patchy.

I’m an office worker, and although I fully believe that black is a neutral colour both in makeup and clothes, the management is bound to disagree with me. (I also believe leopard print to be neutral, but that’s a story for another day…) Seeing as most of my days are spent in the office, I don’t think I’d get the opportunity to rock a black lip any time soon, but I will try wearing it on the weekend without the liner to see how it performs. Recently I bought several other lipsticks from this line, and want to write a detailed post about them as well.

End result:

black lipstick selfie

And from my Instagram on the day of the Prodigy show:

A post shared by Alexandra (@alexandrabrovco) on

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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.