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Showing posts from September, 2018

September Favourites and Wishlist

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BOURJOIS Healthy Mix Serum My most worn foundation this month was the new Essence #insta perfect, which is an ok light base and perfectly fine for the price, but I then switched to Healthy Mix Serum and it's just some much nicer on the skin. Both are natural looking foundations with a low level of coverage, but Healthy Mix Serum creates a more healthy/dewy finish, like your skin is a better version of itself. Unlike Essence it's also not annoyingly tacky and it sets fast, something I always appreciate at foundations. The only thing Essence beat it in is the shade which is much lighter.   Oval Brush from AliExpress My second such brush from AliExpress, which I repurchased because I've been using my old one almost every day for years now and I should have gotten a spare ages ago. I have another similar one from a different brand, but this MAANGE is much softer. Actually my old one broke during washing, but the handle isn't that important at these brushes and I still can u

Essence Go for the Glow Highlighter Palette

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This highlighting palette exists in two versions, a cool and a warm one. I have the latter called 02 the warms and apart from one shade, it's a cool palette, so this whole range is more suited for those with a cool undertone. These are described as holographic highlighters with a metallic glow. Texture: These are soft, buttery powders with an intense shine on the skin, though shades differ in quality. First shade is by far the best in the palette with a metallic eyeshadow-like texture, in fact I have used it as an eyeshadow and it works great, while the other two have a less creamy, more of a classic powder type feel to them.  Shade 1 First shade is a rose gold or dirty gold and it's the only I consider wearable and the one I use often, but it's already quite dark for my pale skin tone and I need to blend it out, so it doesn't look like I applied an eyeshadow on my cheeks. The glow is the strongest in the palette and it has fine shimmer that it doesn't look obvious

Catrice #peeloff Glam Easy to Remove Effect Nail Polish

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Peel off nail polishes are hardly a novelty, but these Catrice ones are the first I tried and I'm hooked. As much as I love glitter on my nails, I rarely wear it because I detest the lengthy removal process and getting glitter everywhere, but this makes it so easy - all you need to do it peel it off and it's gone. #peeloff Glam are a collection of 8 glitter nail polish shades, I have 03 called When in Doubt Just Add Glitter which is a golden-bronze shade, the type of gold I love most because it's not too yellow toned. With one coat the glitter is sparse, so it needs at least two thick applications for an almost opaque look. The base formula reminds me of clear glue, it even smells like that and it applies like that too. Formula is thick and not that easy to apply nicely, so it's not a fast process. It takes a long time to dry completely and it's prone to dents for quite a while, but the glitter isn't falling off or transferring as it's drying. Once it's

Catrice Dewy-ful Lips Conditioning Lip Butter

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Catrice launched yet another line of comfortable lip glosses which are actually pretty much the same in terms of formula to their old Beautifying Lip Smoothers , only the packaging is different as is the shade range. I'm not big on glosses apart from a couple of exceptions and these are definitely one of the exceptions because the formula is so comfortable. Texture : As I said before the formula is pretty much the same as Catrice's discontinued Beautifying Lip Smoothers, meaning it's a lip balm/lip gloss hybrid that's very comfortable, like a cushion on the lips, so I use it instead of a lip balm. It applies with not problems on the lips and I saw no bleeding around the edges. It's got one of those creamy looking shine finishes, similar to Max Factor's Honey Lacquers and Clarins' Instant Lip Perfectors Shade: Mine is the lightest shade of (sadly) only four and it's called 010 Yes, I DEW. It's a pale peachy-pink that I find too light for me because

Bourjois Eye Catching Mascara

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Bourjois has a new mascara in their offering which is inspired by cats or better said the iconic cat eye look. The packaging features an embossed pair of kittens on the cap, otherwise it's a pretty standard looking mascara. It promises an eye-opening and volumizing effect, and while I agree with the latter part, it's the first that has left me a bit disappointed. The brush is asymmetrical with short bristles on one side and longer in a dome shape of the other. I can't use the side with the shorter bristles without creating a clumpy look, so I always just use the one with the longer bristles. That side catches the lashes nicely and fans them out decently, though the thick formula prevents it from looking very separated.  Formula is very creamy and there's always an excess on the brush at the tip. Despite the creamy and somewhat thick formula, when it was new this behaved like a light mascara with a silicone brush that just combes the lashes with one coat creating a natur

Catrice Blush Box 020 Glistening Pink

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Catrice discontinued  Defining Blushes which for years were their "standard" range of powder blushes and I was a big fan of those because they were some of the best in drugstore. Their replacement Box Blushes were released this August and they come six shades. Texture: Compared to their discontinued Defining Blushes, these aren't as buttery or quite as soft, but that doesn't make them any less pigmented. They are more similar to their old Illuminating Blushes that were a bit more tightly packed, but still much softer than for example Bourjois' Round Pots or even Max Factor's Creme Puffs . It's actually just a run-of-the-mill classic blush texture that doesn't feel powdery and it's smooth. It applies and blends with no problems and creates an even result. Catrice rarely disappoints with their blushes (notable exception is their California in a Box which feels chalky compared to these) and this is just another great formula. Shade: Catrice rele

Catrice Eyeshadow Stix

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These are just the latest version of eyeshadows in a stick form that Cosnova put on offer. I've had three of their previous versions before, one were the Catrice Stylo eyeshadows , which were too shimmery and uneven, the other were the brilliant Essence 2-in-1 Eye Shadow & Liner , which were very pigmented, applied nicely and lasted really well and the last were L.O.V. THE Glacious Stylo Eyeshadows , which have a weak pigmentation and a too creamy formula. I feel the newest Catrice's Eyeshadow Stix are better than the discontinued Stylo version, but sadly not in terms of pigmentation. The shade range is much improved, however, I noticed an inconsistency between the quality of individual shades. Texture: These have a similar silicone creamy texture as the Essence 2-in-1, meaning they aren't too soft that they would move too much on the lids, but neither are they too dry. It's that almost perfect in-between type of eyeshadow texture that Kiko also has. They glide ea