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Summer Favorite: Avon Glow Bronzing Pearls

Avon Glow Bronzing Pearls

Every once in a while, I come across a make-up item that I immediately associate to a certain season. One of such are the Avon Glow pearls that waited patiently in my closet for summer to come. Now, I use them every single day.

Občasno se v moji zbirki ličil najde kakšen izdelek, ki ga neposredno povezujem z določenim letnim časom. Eden takšnih so tudi Avon Glow biserčki, ki so v moji omari potrpežljivo čakali na poletje, sedaj pa ne mine dan, da jih ne bi uporabila.

Avon Glow pearls are packed in a small jar which is just the right size that I can attack them with a brush but they can’t fly out during that process. When i received them, they were protected by a foam cover so they wouldn’t get shattered during transport. They have a very light floral scent that I don’t mind at all.

Avon Glow biserčki so pakirani v majhnem lončku, dovolj majhnem, da iz njega ne pobegnejo, ko se jih lotim s čopičem. Ko sem jih prejela, so bili na vrhu zaščiteni s peno, da se ne bi poškodovali med pošiljanjem. Všeč mi je rahel cvetlični vonj, ki pa ni premočan.

Avon Glow Bronzing Pearls

I use two shades – Radiant Glow (left) and Pink Bronze (right).

Sama uporabljam dva odtenka, in sicer Radiant Glow (levo) in Pink Bronze (desno).

Avon Glow Bronzing Pearls

Radiant Glow pearls are a bit darker so I use them for a little bronzing action. They contain micro glitter that gives the skin a nice healthy glow which is why I consider this to be a summer product. There are two colors of pearls in the jar – dark pink pearls and light brown pearls, sort of moccha color.

Kroglice v odtenku Radiant Glow so nekoliko temnejše in jih sama uporabljam kot nežen bronzer. Vsebujejo tudi mikro bleščice, ki koži podarijo nekaj sijaja in svež izgled. Prav zato se mi zdijo še posebej primerne za poletje. V škatlici sta zmešana dva odtenka kroglic, in sicer temnejše roza kroglice in svetlo rjave kroglice, podobne barve kot kava z mlekom. View Post

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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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

Kat Von D Shade & Light Contour Palette

I’ve been promising to do a review of this palette for ages, since it’s my go-to contour palette which I use on a daily basis. You can also tell from the photos below it’s being well loved. So I decided that I’ll do a quick review with swatches on a Friday, since this palette is absolutely a favorite of mine.

The palette is unfortunately hard to come by if you’re from Europe. It’s sold at Sephora for 46 $ which is a reasonable price IMO considering the amount of product you’re getting (it’s about 2,3g of lighter shades and twice as much for the darker ones).

The packaging itself is a cardboard one with the famous Kat Von D lettering. It has a magnetic closing system all around the palette. I find this palette brilliant for traveling, since there is no way it will break on you. I also love the huge mirror inside. On the downside, the cardboard gets quite dirty so if you hate to clean your make-up all the time to keep it pretty, that’s one thing to keep in mind. View Post

Makeup Revolution Ultra Sculpt & Contour Kit

 

If you follow me on Instagram (@low_maintenance_beauty), you probably noticed that I received a few packages from Licila.si and Makeuprevolution.si through the month of May. Well, one of the packages got me all excited and today, I’d like to do a quick review of the product.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past two years, you know that it’s not all about the bass (no treble, lalala), but rather, it’s all about contouring. When looking at photos, I feel like I could cut bread with some of the cheebones of various models and actresses. And with this new trend came a myraid of new products, intended specifically for the purpose, creating a whole new category of beauty product – the contour kits.

Anyway, I was sent the Makeup Revolution Ultra Sculpt & Contour Kit in light-medium.

The palette brings three different products – a matte bronzer, a highlighter and a shimmer blush.

The packaging itself is nothing special, but that can be expected for the price range (with the exception of the MUR Iconic Pro lipsticks I wrote about here – how about that for spectacular packaging). It’s a plastic palette with a mirror. I like that it closes up really well – I wouldn’t be worried to travel with it.


The bronzer has a milk chocolate color and is all matte. For my fair skin, it’s stuck somewhere in the middle – a bit to warm to be a contour color and a bit too dark to use as a bronzer all over my face. I did however try to use it over NYX Taupe blush that I sometimes use for contouring and it really emphasized what I was going for. That, for me atleast, is now the perfect contour combo.

Highlighter is really, really nice – I don’t have anything like this in pressed powder version yet. The color ranges somewhere between peach and champagne and is spectacular on the high points of the face. I would say that a light touch is needed, though, since it really does contain quite a lot of shimmer.

The same applies for the blush. The color looks quite dark and really brown in the palette, but once applied it turns into a lovely copper blush with orange undertones and a lotof shimmer. Again, it will be the perfect summer blush for those sunkissed cheeks, but for now, I’m keeping it in the closet, since I’m still rocking the tan of a Google computer programmer.

I need to say that I had plenty kick-out with the Real Techniques brushes and absolutely none with any of my other brushes. I can’t really put my finger on what makes the difference, but I think that it’s a nice little reminder for any of you.

Here are the swatches – bronzer, highlight and blush from left to right. I tried to seek out some dupes but quickly realized that these colors are completely unique to my collection.

The quality and pigmentation reminds me very much of the Sleek contour palette, but while the Sleek palettes cost about 14 € on Licila.si, this one will be about a third of the price. So far, it’s not yet available in this particular shade (Ultra Fair), but you can already get your hands on the Ultra Light palette (click). I think that it’s absolutely worth the money and give it my seal of approval.

What is your favorite contour palette? Let me know below – I only have four different ones and really feel that I could do with a couple more 😉

Stay beautiful!