Freedom Makeup London – review & swatches

A couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to receive a couple of Freedom Makeup products from the online store Licila.si. In the package, I found the following three products.


I was most excited about the bronzing trio, since I’m always on the hunt for the perfect bronzer/contour. This is the Bronzed professional Pro in Shimmer lights (you can get it here for 5,95 €).


The packaging doesn’t seem the sturdiest, but for the price, a bit of saving on that front can be expected. I am also not particularly happy about the fact that there is no mirror on the compact. The three colors can be used mixed together in a shimmery bronzer or used separately, which is how I use them. I normally prefer the colors to be physically separated in the compact, but each of the shades is big enough for my brushes so I don’t pick up the shades I don’t want to.

The swatches on hand don’t do complete justice to the product, since the brush picks it up a bit better, but this is more to give you an idea about the colors and shades. I really like the pink shade of the blush and the warmth of highlighter, but the actual bronzer has very poor pigmentation. View Post

New products – August 2015

I tried to be reasonable with my shopping in the past month, since I’ve got quite some business and personal trips coming up in the near future and I intend to purchase some products that are not easily available to me in Slovenia (or not at all). That being said, I still slipped on some occasions and I also received some Freedom Make-Up from Licila.si to try out, but I will review those in a separate post.


First off, I took advantage of a nice Yves Rocher offer where one could choose three products for 12,50 € (the promotion is still valid).


Since I’ve never tried Yves Rocher products before, this seemed like a nice opportunity. I bought the Replumping serum foundation, Blackberries sparkling body powder and Hair Repair Oil. The company also sent me some extra samples to try out and a shopping bag which comes in handy for my everyday grocery purchases.


I haven’t tried all of the products yet, but can I just point out how beautiful this packaging from the sparkling body powder is? I absolutely love the little puff and the smell of it as well – it really does smell like blackberries! View Post

Autumn Wish List 2015

I love summer, but as far as colors go, I am more of an autumnal being by heart. Today, I wanted to share my wishlist for upcoming months, so we can review my successes and fails in the shopping department around Christmas time. 

I would love for any of you to share your wish lists with me as well – I can never have enough inspiration when it comes to shopping. Also, if you know of any good dupes for the listed products, they would also be more than welcome  (and my wallet will probably be eternally grateful to you as well). 
face products fall


Because you know I’m all about that BASE, that base, … I love the look of perfect skin and never get tired of buying new and new products in the search for that perfect combination. This autumn, my eyes are set on Estée Lauder Double Wear foundation. Apparently, it’s a full coverage foundation but doesn’t produce the appearance of a mask on the face. Same goes for Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer – it promises to really cover all the imperfections and dark circles, but doesn’t look too heavy on the face.

Stick contour is something I’ve wanted to try since forever, but I really might take the plunge this fall. I’ve got my eyes set on the Smashbox Step-by-step Contour Trio. I’ve chosen this brand because the colors are apparently quite easy to blend out (which is my biggest concern) and also have good staying power. 

Last but not least – how could anyone not want at least one of these Real Techniques brushes from Bold Metals Collection? I love my RT brushes as is for their overall quality, but these are so gorgeous and luxurious that I absolutely need at least one in my life. 

fall lips



Autumn collections bring some pretty strong and powerful lip colors, which I need to learn to love and appreciate on my lips as well, not only on other people. I’m eyeing the Catrice Shine Appeal in Marry Berry. First off, I’m a big fan of this packaging, since it’s different to anything else we’ve seen from Catrice so far. But more importantly, Catrice continues to amaze me with most of their products in terms of price: quality ratio and I’m positive that this lip gloss will be no exception to this rule. 

For lipsticks, I need some more MAC in my life and I really, really want this MAC Fixed on drama lipstick, a matte red with brown undertones. I don’t own anything in this color yet and somehow I feel like I’m missing out. 

This NARS High Shine Lip Gloss in Pink Grapefruit is more of a phantasy, really, since I’ll probably never spend that much money on a gloss. But it is a really nice color for days when I just can’t be forced to make a real effort. 

Last, we can’t finish this lip section without the EOS in Sweet Mint. This is my favorite flavor of EOS in general and since it is coming to its inevitable end, I’m probably going to repurchase it. 
nail polish fall

In the random category, I’ve been wanting another beige nail polish – I really love my OPI Don’t pretzel my buttons, but I’ve never tried Ciate polishes before and I’m curious. This one is in Cookies and Cream. To spice things up, I’m going to try to find this Berry M polish in Bright Purple – this much color I can handle even in fall months. 
Last but not least, I need to tackle the eyebrows issue. I’ve been using the same NYX Cake Powder for the last year and not only am I running out, I’m quite bored with it to be honest. Since everyone and their mother raves about Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade, I might as well cave in and buy myself one. Hopefully, it will be better than the contour palette. 
So that’s my wish list  – naturally, I’m not going to buy everything on it, but if I do, I’m certainly going to share it with you. 

Until next time, stay beautiful!

Empty products!

Once again, I dug out my beauty trash. I tried to keep your advice in mind and do this post a bit earlier this time so the post doesn’t stretch into infinity. I don’t think I did very well, though.

Let’s start small. I’ve gotten or purchased quite a lot of samples and for once, I managed to use some as well.

I love Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting exfoliator. It was my first time trying something with BHA gel and I’m really tempted to get a full size of this. It made my skin bright, I really had a feeling that it was clean and soft. I can’t say the same for the Delarom Infinite White serum – I noticed no difference to my skin after using a couple of these samples (which I got in the Dashbox).

I will get my behind whooped by beauty bloggers for saying this, but I was really, really unimpressed with the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Reconstructor. My hair didn’t feel any different or feel any different after I used it. I might try some other Aussie products in the future, but I will not be purchasing this any time soon.

Sticking with the hair theme, I used up my Syoss Anti-Grease Dry Shampoo. This was an OK product – it lasted me quite long, but I only used it on 3rd day hair which doesn’t happen very often to me to be honest. The smell is nice and it does suck some of the grease out. Hint: I usually spray this into my hair first thing in the morning and let it do its magic for a good 10 minutes before brushing out. I would repurchase this, but I might also go for Batiste again, simply because I prefer the smell. View Post

Midyear favorites 2015

You may have noticed that I stopped doing monthly favorites about 6 months ago. The reason is quite simple – I don’t have many new favorites every month, so I prefer not to talk about products until I have a firm opinion about them. With that in mind, I give you my mid-year favorites for 2015 – the products I used and loved in the first six months of this year.


Let’s start with body products. I’ve talked about both of these before.


My first favorite is Nivea In-Shower Body Milk with shea butter. I love the idea of moisturizing while taking a shower and it really saves me a lot of time. I prefer this formula for dry skin to the one for normal skin – the shea butter really gives it the additional *umph*.

Secondly, I’ve really been enjoying my Stenders Salt Scrub in Rose and it’s not long before I’ll completely run out. It’s a fine scrub with some rose petals in it – it gets rid of the old epidermis and also moisturizes, since it’s oil based. The only downside is the amount of time you’ll need to scrub your shower clean after using it.

For hair, I haven’t found my new favorite shampoo&conditioner combo just yet. The only thing I am including here is my Kerastase Elixir Ultime. I apply this to my roots and about 10 cm up after each wash and I feel I’ve had lot less split and dry hair in the past few months. This product is quite expensive, but the bottle will last you ages, since you need the smallest amount per day / per wash.


I was the last beauty blogger on the planet to get something from the L’Oreal Micellar line, but I now understand why everyone is so excited about it. I really, really like this micellar gel – the tiniest amount removes my daily make-up without any problems. It also does quite a good job at removing waterproof mascara, although I must admit that I usually tackle that with other products.

After L’Oreal Micellar gel, I tend to use the Ole Henriksen African Red Tea Foaming Cleanser. I have talked about this great product before – it’s really easy to use (massaged into the skin and rinsed off), smells wonderfully and leaves my face clean and fresh.

For moisturizer, I am almost done with the Afrodita Hydra Thermal 24h Ultra Moisturizing Cream. I really like this product – it’s a simple, no fuss moisturizer and it does its job. Also, from all of the products in these favorites, I would guess that it has the best price: number of uses ratio. View Post