Maša M blog
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Benefit Cheekathon (review & swatches)

I have wanted this palette from the second I first laid my eyes on it at the Sephora website. So when opportunity arose (thanks, Urša!), I made sure to have it join my collection.

The packaging is quite sturdy and closes with a magnet. It’s also super pretty, if you’re into such girly things (sure you are, just admit it). When opened, you’re facing five full size Benefit face products and a brush with natural bristles. There are four blushes: Dandelion, Dallas, Coralista and Rockateur, and the Hoola bronzer.

Dandelion is very nice baby pink blush, that kind of pink that everyone can wear. However, the pigmentation simply isn’t there. The same goes for Dallas blush that is a dusty rose color. Again, absolutely beautiful, but it does not show up on my skin tone. I am however completely in love with Coralista (the name says it all – a coral color with a bit of shimmer). Rockateur is a very shimmery rose blush that I simply cannot use as a blush, but it works great as a highlighter now when I’m a bit more tanned than usual. I probably won’t be able to use it in the fall and winter months.  

The problem with Dandelion and Dallas is the pigmentation. But I also have a beef with the Hoola bronzer (which, BTW, is great for my skin tone). It is so finely mild that it becomes buttery and makes a real mess with any brush but the brush that is actually included in the palette. I thought that the trick was to use a natural bristle brush but when trying others in my collection I noticed they were destroying the pan and quickly gave up. I don’t remember having this problem with my Hoola single, but unfortunately I’ve passed it on so I can’t really compare. 

Having a brush is very nice but truth be told, you cannot use it for more then one product – I think that mixing blushes and the bronzer could end up in disaster. 

Apart from that, I can also mention you get an instruction leaflet included – if you’re the kind of person who likes to be told how to do their make-up, you’ll probably get good use out of it. I just threw it in the trash. 

 

All in all, I would say this is a good product. But it’s just good, when I expected much more from it. At the $58 price tag (for a $145) value I would have probably been better off investing a few more dollars and getting another palette (like the Hourglass Illume Sheer Color trio – isn’t it just amazing) but it is what it is. I’ll continue to use it, of course, but unfortunately it’s not something I would highly recommend. 

Until next time, stay beautiful!

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Cover FX Custom Cover Drops

 

Now my only question about this product is: why didn’t anyone think of this sooner?

 

First, let’s do the technical part of this amazing product. It contains Flash Fusion Technology meaning that when you mix it with something, it transforms into pure pigment. It is formulated without parabens, sulfates and phthalates.

 

 

Now, let’s get down to business. As said, this stuff is pure pigment. You can mix it with just about anything depending on what you want the finish to look like. So far, I tried to blend it with a moisturizer, a silicone based primer, an ordinary primer, a strobing fluid and another lightweight foundation. You can check out the results below (all with three drops). If you want a glowing, dewy skin, go for the moisturizer or even some face oil. If you want a more matte finish, try using a mattifying primer or a lightweight mattifying foundation. It’s really all up to you.

 

 

About the number of drops – three is the most you need, really. One drop for light coverage, two for medium coverage, three for full coverage and four for total coverage, as shown below mixed with a primer. The thing is – if you add more than four drops, the consistency and coverage won’t change dramatically so you might as well save the product. And even if you go for total coverage, you’ll barely know there’s anything on your face, because if mixed with a light medium these drops are completely lightweight!

 

 

The bottle itself is minimalist and I like you can see the color in the drop below so you can compare it to your skin in the store if need be. The dropper is fantastic and the number of drops is very easy to control. Of course, things will probably get a bit messier when I get to the end of the product, but that is to be expected with all droppers.

 

The 15 ml bottle costs 44 $ in Sephora or 39 € on Beauty Bay. Yes, it’s not cheap. But I’ll tell you this – if I wasn’t a beauty blogger and thus in need of trying new foundations in the market, I seriously doubt I would ever buy a foundation again. Ever. I would get one shade of FX drops for summer and one for winter and that would be it. I will also totally be able to transform some of the foundations that I didn’t like so much into something wearable.

 

All in all, this will probably become a staple in my make-up collection. I’ve been using it non-stop for the past few weeks and I’m still discovering new ways to use it which amazes and excites me a lot.

 

Until next time, stay beautiful!

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Nabla Shade&Glow Contour Bronzer

I always get super excited when new brands enter our little market and when I first heard of Nabla cosmetics being sold by Licila.si, my excitement was just as big as with every other more known brand. So yes, I went and spent some money because – why not!

A couple of things about the brand, before we kick of the actual review. Nabla is an Italian brand, not a huge one, but the variety of products is there. All of their products are cruelty free (like really cruelty free, they don’t test or commission the tests to be done by others and even more cool, they don’t sell to countries where testing on animals is mandatory!) and vegan. They offer a wide range of their staples as well as some limited edition collections, which we always like to see. But today, let’s talk about one of the classics – a bronzer.

You know I’m obsessed with bronzers. I collect them like the sun will disappear and bronzers will be my last hope of looking like a human being. But sadly, many bronzers look great in the packaging and then fall flat when I actually use them on my face – patchy, poor pigmentation, too orange, crumbly – you name it, it’s happened to me. After all, I am a veteran. View Post

Golden Rose Liquid Matte Lipstick review

I don’t normally do somewhat negative reviews of a single product but I’ve received so many questions about the new Golden Rose liquid matte lipsticks that I feel like I must put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, to be more exact) and write my thoughts and opinions about it. 

A quick disclaimer: as you’ll see, I really don’t like this lipstick, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like the brand in general – they have some awesome products that I wrote about a bunch already. 

Anyway, this is my lipstick. It’s in the shade 11 – a nice warm brown color. The selection of colors is quite nice. The price is quite steep for Golden Rose brand – this one will set you back 5,60 € for 5,5 ml.

The lipstick promises to be ~ ultra long lasting, ~ with no transfer film ~ enriched with vitamin E. 

The packaging is pretty standard with all the ingredients on the back of the packaging.  The bullet is pretty simple. It’s nothing special compared to other brands, but in case of Golden Rose, you’re really paying that less because of it so it doesn’t bother me much.

I don’t like the applicator at all. I’m very used to the doe foot applicators and this one looks more like a straight spatula, making the application much more difficult, especially in places where more precision is needed. I can just get away with application of this shade, but I would definitely suggest using a precision lip brush for any bolder colors.

The next thing I don’t like but can’t really show on the photo is the smell. It’s a strong vanilla scent, but not the nice grandmabakedcookies vanilla, but rather the 2€/liter essence you’ll get in your supermarket. I can also smell it once it’s on the lips which is very off putting. 

But the thing that matters the most is the formula. It’s quite soft going on the lips, although somewhat patchy, but once it dries (which is quite quickly), it becomes sticky and settles into the lip lines. I tried prepping my lips with a scrub and it made no difference. Even when it’s dry it’s very stick and eventually starts to flake off. It will last longer than your average drugstore lipstick, but my lips are definitely not happy once I remove it. 

So there you have it. I would advise you against buying this particular lipstick, but if it’s a good matte lipstick in general you’re after, they have some great velvet matte lipsticks. Just look for a lovely fuchsia colored bullets once you visit their stand.

Until next time, stay beautiful.

New Bits and Bobs for July 2016

It’s the same story every month – I don’t really feel like I’m shopping at all, but at the end of the month when I try to take a photo of all new products, I fail miserably. So yes, there are a few missing in the photo above.

Let’s start with some bigger things. I’m going to start using this Biobaza 3-1 cleanser this week since I just ran out of my previous one from L’Oreal yesterday. I got sent the Avon Sun Light spray – perfect timing as my vacation is quickly approaching. I bought the Verde Vera hand cream in Spar because I like the packaging and I also like having a cream in a jar for the kitchen. View Post