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Best of 2015: Make-up


Yes, I know, I know – doing 2015 favorites in May isn’t exactly current. But nevertheless, I wanted to share the make-up products that impressed me the most in 2015 with you. It was difficult to choose the best of the best, but here are the ones that I enjoyed the most. I suggest you get a cup of coffee and a snack, since it’s going to be a looooong post!

Let’s start with the face. As I mentioned in my Friday Superstarts post about Melvita, my skin has really been acting up during pregnancy, so I used a very heavy-duty foundation – the Estee Lauder Double wear in 1W2 (Sand). It’s not the easiest foundation to apply since it’s very heavy and you definitely feel it on the skin, but it conceals imperfections perfectly. It’s also not the cheapest foundation on the market but a definite must from now on in my make-up drawer.

The problem with using such heavy foundation is that the fact ends up looking flat, two-dimensional. For that reason, I enjoyed using the Gerard Cosmetics BB Illumination Facial Cream and mixed a couple of drops in with the foundation on days when I wanted to give my face a bit more life. The cream comes in a tan shade so it doesn’t change your foundation color if used sparingly. At about 22 € per 50 ml, it’s not exactly a cheap product, but I think it will last me at least two years, so I think it’s a good purchase.

In 2015 I’ve been loving two concealers. The first is the Coleur Caramel concealer (n. 12) which is a creamy concealer in a salmon shade – I already wrote about it here. I use it to cover up my dark circles and it does the job beautifully. I bought mine in Muller. The second concealer I used all the time is the Maybelline Fit me concealer in n.10 – it is a good match for my skin so I use it to cover any imperfections. Since it’s a liquid concealer, I use a Beauty Blender to really blend it in and the results are more than satisfying. I am not sure if these are available in Slovenia yet since I bought mine in Austria, but you can order them from various online stores.

I am a big believer in setting the foundation and the product I used the most in 2015 and the months leading to this post is the Avon Ideal Flawless pressed powder in light medium.


Yes, I know, I know – doing 2015 favorites in May isn’t exactly current. But nevertheless, I wanted to share the make-up products that impressed me the most in 2015 with you. It was difficult to choose the best of the best, but here are the ones that I enjoyed the most. I suggest you get a cup of coffee and a snack, since it’s going to be a looooong post!

Let’s start with the face. As I mentioned in my Friday Superstarts post about Melvita, my skin has really been acting up during pregnancy, so I used a very heavy-duty foundation – the Estee Lauder Double wear in 1W2 (Sand). It’s not the easiest foundation to apply since it’s very heavy and you definitely feel it on the skin, but it conceals imperfections perfectly. It’s also not the cheapest foundation on the market but a definite must from now on in my make-up drawer.

The problem with using such heavy foundation is that the fact ends up looking flat, two-dimensional. For that reason, I enjoyed using the Gerard Cosmetics BB Illumination Facial Cream and mixed a couple of drops in with the foundation on days when I wanted to give my face a bit more life. The cream comes in a tan shade so it doesn’t change your foundation color if used sparingly. At about 22 € per 50 ml, it’s not exactly a cheap product, but I think it will last me at least two years, so I think it’s a good purchase.

In 2015 I’ve been loving two concealers. The first is the Coleur Caramel concealer (n. 12) which is a creamy concealer in a salmon shade – I already wrote about it here. I use it to cover up my dark circles and it does the job beautifully. I bought mine in Muller. The second concealer I used all the time is the Maybelline Fit me concealer in n.10 – it is a good match for my skin so I use it to cover any imperfections. Since it’s a liquid concealer, I use a Beauty Blender to really blend it in and the results are more than satisfying. I am not sure if these are available in Slovenia yet since I bought mine in Austria, but you can order them from various online stores. View Post

Catrice Chocolate Nudes eyeshadow palette

It might sound a bit pretentious, but I think that the eyeshadow palettes are the one high-end product I really, really find worth the money. With a few exceptions, I find the drugstore palettes to be of poor quality which also explains the lack of posts about new palettes that some other bloggers rave about in their posts. When I first started to really enjoy make-up, I bought a couple of high-end palettes and learned to appreciate their quality.

With that being said, I do find that you can come upon a hidden jewel once in a while and this little Chocolate Nudes palette by Catrice is most definitely one of those. You can get it in most drugstores for about 5,5 €.

The packaging alone is where I feel a lot of money was saved on this palette – it’s a simple, small plastic black case with a (in my opinion) useless brush. There is also no mirror in sight.

The back of the palette gives you a little tutorial in how to create a glamorous smokey eye, if you would feel the want to wear something like that. It is true that there are only six shades in the palette, but the color combinations that you can play around with are practically endless.

But now, let’s talk about the good stuff – the actual shades. They are incredibly soft, almost buttery, which can cause a bit of a fallout if you’re being too aggressive, so I would suggest using good quality brushes with it.

As you are reading this, this palette is vacationing with me as the only palette I took along, since I didn’t really feel the need to bring anything else. The palette has a good white base, a highlighter, two nice crease/transition colors (in the middle) and two highly pigmented, absolutely stunning shades at the very right end. I swoon over the dark gold (almost rose-gold) shade that comes second to last in the palette – and I would not hand over this palette to anyone because of this shade alone.

If you’re on the hunt for a natural palette for a bargain price, I would definitely recommend you go out and get yourself one of these. Besides being a perfect traveling companion, this would also be a good palette for younger girls that are just starting to play around with make-up and with Christmas around the corner, there’s no time like the present to be that perfect friend/mother/aunt.

Until next time, stay beautiful!

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

The best and worst of my primers

 

I have talked quite a lot about primers in my previous posts, since I really do believe that they make a difference to a) what your skin will look like with foundation and b) how good it’s going to wear throughout the day. I have included some primers in my recent favorites as well, so go check those out if you are interested.

So currently, I have quite a few primers that I use on a regular basis. I thought that the best way to go about this is from my least favorite to my personal favorite primer, something that we already did with mascaras (click here and here to view those posts).


6th place: MONU First Defence Illuminating primer with SPF 15

I got the deluxe sample of this primer in the Look Fantastic Beauty Box and I’m almost out of it. It says it’s suitable for all skin types, but I feel that he is somewhat responsible for the breakouts I’ve been having recently. It’s also quite drying, which could be expected for a mattifying primer, but I feel that it sticks to the dry patches on my face a bit more and thus makes them even more apparent. I’ll give it a point for the SPF, but that’s about it. The full size costs a whooping 40 € of Feelunique website.

5TH place: New Baby Skin Instant Fatigue Blur (Warm Apricot)

First of all, I need to talk about the smell. It’s absolutely horrible, like the 1 € apricot ice cream you’d get from a store that had never seen a real apricot in its life, but had rather been smothered with tons of chemicals and additives.

It is light orange in shade, so it’s supposed to really be color correcting and good at hiding your dark circles etc. I personally don’t see any difference in that area. Similar to the original Baby Skin primer, it’s silicone base so it does a good job at preparing your face for foundation, but really, it’s nothing special. You can get it from Asos for about 11 €.

4TH place: Bourjois Happy Light Matte Serum Primer

This primer has been a favorite of mine for quite some time, until it got cooler in the winter time. It says that it’s best for normal to combination skin, promises airbrush action and pore minimization – which it really does. But in the winter, I felt that it really tug on my skin, which is probably due to the mattifying effect it promises. My foundation does look nicer and holds longer with this one, so I will not chuck it, but it’s certainly not one of my favorites. It sells on Lookfantastic for about 11 €. View Post

April Favorites

Another month rolled by and I almost can’t believe that it’s almost been a year since I started writing this blog 🙂 Anyway, April brought some new, wonderful discoveries for me, and I also found some of my old friends lurking in the back of that closet that I keep mentioning all the time.



Quite a few were already mentioned in my other posts, so let’s start with those. First is the Lord&Berry liner that I received in the LookFantastic beauty box about a month ago. It’s been well loved but I’m determined to use the very last inch of it. You can read more about it here – and thank me later when you go and buy it 😉


Essence Longlasting Lip Liner in Yummy Berry


Another favorite that I only recently became acquainted with is the Essence Longlasting lip liner. I love quite a few colors, but as I already mentioned in this post, the Yummy Berry is my favorite. I need to go out and buy a few back-up’s in case it makes a disappearing act from the shelves.


O.P.I. Don’t pretzel my buttons

This O.P.I. Don’t pretzel my buttons featured in my Simple manicure routine post. It’s a really lovely beige nude and I’ve been wearing it a lot in the past two months, simply because it’s long lasting and – to be completely honest – doesn’t look terrible even when some chipping occurs. It’s the only nude polish I own and we have quite a romance going on at the moment.


Medex Elanosol lip balm

I don’t talk much about Medex cosmetics line and I don’t really know why – I love most of the products and use them quite religiously. But my favorite has to be the Elanosol lip balm that contains propolis, honey and bee wax. First of all, this lip balm really does smell and taste of honey, and secondly, it leaves quite a thick layer on the lips meaning that they are fully protected. That being said, it’s not really a product I use out of home, because it also leaves a little white residue which doesn’t look too appealing. But I love using it at home and it helps my lips tremendously. View Post