Maša M blog
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Sephora (and MAC) haul

I know that some of you take offense when I’m writing about things that are not easy/next to impossible to get in Slovenia (or, to be honest, in Europe), but still I got some positive feedback from others, saying that you like such posts, since they make you either have them shipped/buy them on your travels/order them from friends that are traveling etc.

Well, I do realize that writing about products that you cannot just go out and buy isn’t exactly productive, but just keep in mind this one thing – if you dream it, you dreams can come true. And please, don’t only apply it to make-up shopping 🙂

Anyway, my Sephora basket wasn’t as extensive as it was about a year ago, but my wishes have gotten much, much more specific.

First of all, I was on the hunt for a full coverage foundation. This Kat Von D Lock it tattoo foundation does seem dark for me in the bottle (shade 54 – medium), but for some reason it’s the perfect shade – if I were to buy it over the internet, I would go much lighter and completely miss the target.

I literally just need one tiny pump of this foundation to cover my entire face, and boy oh boy, does it cover every single thing. I wouldn’t say this is an everyday foundation for me, but it’s great for when I will need my complexion to look fabulous. I would not wear this every day since it does feel quite heavy and I have a feeling that it does crawl deep into my skin and settles there. It cost 35 $ at Sephora.

 Next is an absolute must and a palette that has probably been review by every beauty blogger (and their mother) on this planet, but as always, I’m late for the party. It’s the Anastasia Contour palette (mine is in light to medium). View Post

Last e.l.f. haul for a while…

If you follow me on Instagram (you don’t? Go now – it’s @low_maintenance_beauty) you might have noticed my posts about the shutdown of e.l.f. (Eyes Lips Face) UK online store. Apparently, it will make a comeback in a couple of months, but I still stocked up on some things I like and afforded a bit more, since everything was on massive sale.

By the way, the sale is still going on – there’s not a lot of stuff left but you can still check it out if something catches your eye.

Anyway, this is what I got.

Yes – those are three identical Mineral Eyeshadow Primers back in the corner. These primers are absolutely best value for money (with the exception of Wet’n’Wild Fergie primer which I can’t find anywhere in Europe). They have a soft yellow tint to them which is just enough to cover the veins and spots on the eyelids even if you’re not wearing any eyeshadow. So I stocked up.

e.l.f. Smudge Pot – Hit the town
Keeping with the eye theme, I got another one of the Smudge pots in color Hit the town. I bought one of these (Gotta glow – a nice light gold shade) a few months back and I like to use it as an accent for the middle of my eyelid when going for a bolder look. Since they are wet (kind of similar to Maybelline Color Tattoo’s, but in reality more appropriate for base), they have a bit more staying power than a normal eyeshadow. Hit the town is a blue-gray shadow that looks absolutely beautiful and I will definitely use it as a base for creating a smokey eye. View Post

A very OLD Make-up Haul & Mini Reviews

So the thing is, my clients obviously ganged up and tried to see how much I can take before I crack under pressure. I’m still alive, though, so they’ve been doing a poor job so far. But the thing is that I spent every free second of my days sleeping and recovering and wasn’t really up to blogging. It also explains why this post was originally supposed to be just a haul, but now it’s going to be a haul with reviews, which is just as well or even better I guess.

Because, let me be tell you one thing. I can be dead tired, but my make-up will be great nevertheless. Just so we’re clear on that front.

Anyway, this is what I picked up since end of December until the middle of January.

As you can see, we’ve got a little bit of everything. Let’s start with face and eyes, shall we? I picked up two Real Techniques sponges – one for me and one for my friend (and one of the very few people in my life who know about this blog). I’ve had the last sponge for about 6 months and it was really time to get rid of it. This costs about 8 € on Licila.si, but they always have special deals you can take advantage of.

Next, I really, really needed a new foundation. This L’Oreal Infallible was on sale in DM for about 9 €, so I picked it up since I remembered using a similar one from L’Oreal before and being satisfied with it. But, alas, I completely missed the mark on the shade – I got True Beige when I should have gotten Natural beige, a couple of shades darker. So now I basically look half dead before I apply my setting powder. It’s an OK foundation, nothing special. What I really want to know, though, is about the primer from the same line – have any of you beauties tried it yet? What do you think about it?

Last thing in this package is the NYX Powder Blush in Taupe. Now I’ve been obsessing over my bronzers for the past few months ever since I hit pan on my beloved Tarte blush (which I’m now saving for special occasions – is this something you do as well with your beloved products?). I learned that this is supposedly a perfect contour color, since it’s not too dark and not too brown and has grey undertones. As I understand, the bronzer used for contour is not supposed to be brown but rather grey-ish, since that’s the color that the shade on your face produces. View Post

No make-up shopping until 2015?

I tried my best with this resolution dating back to October, I really did. But with all the sales and great deals, I was destined to fail before I even really attempted to succeed and not buy any make-up until 2015. So over the course of the last month, I picked up (or was sent) quite a few of the products and I am only showing you the ones I already have an opinion on or I am really excited about. I hope you won’t mind the pictures terribly – it’s obvious now that since I will never be home in time to shoot the pics in daylight, I will need to do something about my camera, but for now, we are stuck with what we have.


Let’s start with face products. This Chanel Vita Lumiere foundation (in beige) is my first ever Chanel foundation. I will have to give it a few more tries but so far I am less than impressed. It’s quite sheer and tends to stick to the dry areas of my face although I am using a primer. For the price, I was really hoping that it would be a full coverage foundation that would still somehow make it look like I am wearing nothing on my face. That is what I was promised and I must say, that not only does the product not deliver on the promises; it fades in comparison to some of the drugstore foundations. I will try it with another primer, but I am disappointed so far.

I can only say completely the opposite about the Sleek blush palette (in Pink lemonade). This was sent to me by Licila.si and I absolutely love it. The packaging itself is beautiful (although I’ll admit it’s a bit hard to open with long nails) and the palette contains two powder blushes (Pink mint on far left and Icing sugar on far right – both have a very slight shimmer to them) and one cream blush (macaroon in the middle). Until this palette, I was sure that the only blush that would look good on me is light, almost neutral, pink, but I have been getting compliments from left and right wearing the darker Icing sugar. All three blushes are highly pigmented so they should last you forever. View Post

Holiday wishlist

Yes, I know, December and Christmas are still far, far away, but somehow the Christmas spirit always catches me unprepared way before it is supposed to – and once I get overall excited about something, it’s hard for me to stop obsessing.

In the past weeks, I have seen some Youtube videos and read some blogs about the Christmas or »Holiday« editions from several high-end companies like Urban Decay, Benefit, Stila and so forth. These are normally value sets tricking you into buying them by saying you’re only going to pay something like $45 for $200 value. Now i KNOW it’s not true, but that reasonable part of my brain somehow goes on vacation in December. I did not care last year, but I definitely do care this year. And since I’ve just booked some plane tickets to visit a country that has Sephora stores in December, I know that I’m not going to be able to resist picking up at least a few products. Hence the wishlist. But this wishlist also includes some items that can be bought over here or in EU stores (hinting heavily to my most loyal reader of all). 🙂

Number one on my list is definitely the Sephora Favorites – Superstars. It contains many of the items I have been wanting to try for sooo long and some that I have tried and absolutely love.

It is priced at $75 and apparently worth $225. I did my own calculations based on the number of full-size products and deluxe samples and came to $222 so yes, the calculation is legit. It contains the Anastasia Brow Wiz (full size – 21 $), Benefit POREfessional (deluxe sample – about 10 $), Benefit They’re real mascara (deluxe sample – about $5), Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray (travel size, about $15), Chloe Rollerball (full size – $25), Formula X Nail color in Ignite (full size – about $11), Fresh Sugar Rose Tinted lip treatment (deluxe sample – about $12), Josie Maran 100 % Pure Argan oil (travel size, about $16), Nars blush in Orgasm (full size – $30), Smashbox Camera ready BB Cream (full size – $40), Stila Stay All Day liquid eye liner (full size – $20) and Urban Decay eyeshadow in Sin (full size – $18). I am excited about just about everything in this package, I think the colors would all work for me and I am getting my hands on this one! There are so many brands in this set that I haven’t even tried yet that I’m sure it is well worth the money.

Another set I really, I really want is the Josie Maran Winter Dream Argan Skincare Collection. This is not a steal as the Superstars, it’s priced at $39 with $68 value so I’m not even going to calculate this one to extensively.

 

 

It contains everything you could possibly need for your skincare routine – cleansing oil, hydrating treatment, pure argan oil (which I use and is absolutely fabulous), intensive creamy oil, daily moisturizer with SPF of 47 and as a special bonus, a hand creams. This brand is all natural and I would love to try the products.

The third set that I will most likely be tempted to snatch in Sephora is the First Aid Beauty – Cheers to fab skin set, priced at $48 for $100 value. I did my calculations on this one and again came to a very similar number, so I am satisfied 🙂 I have purhcased a few items from this brand on my last USA trip for my mother and she absolutely loves them so I really want to give them a go as well. View Post