Beauty brands I’m boycotting

I try not to be overly judgmental when it comes to make-up. I know many of you are very conscious and only buy white-list products, vegan products, those that are not tested on animals an so forth. When I’m choosing between two almost identical products, I’ll take such factors into consideration as well, but sometimes when I really want something I’ll buy it regardless. I do however have a whole list of brands that I’ll never, never buy anthying from (again) for a bunch of different reasons, most of them being that they are completely in conflict with my values.

Pri lepotnih izdelkih glede sestavin nisem preveč natančna, verjetno bi lahko celo rekla, da sem premalo natančna. Vem, da veliko potrošnic preveri, da je izdelek na beli list, veganski, ni testiran na živalih in podobno. Kadar se odločam med dvema praktično enakima izdelkoma, tudi sama preverim te stvari, vendar pa priznam – če si izdelek res želim, ga bom kupila ne glede na to, kakšne so na primer njegove sestavine. Po drugi strani pa obstaja cela vrsta znamk, od katerih nikoli (več) ne bom kupila ničesar, večinoma zato, ker so njihova dejanja popolnoma v nasprotju z mojimi vrednotami.

On the very top of the list you’ll find JEFFREE STAR COSMETICS. I have so many problems with this brand that I don’t even know where to start, but let’s try to name a few. I won’t buy their products because of the YouTube Guru and brand owner, Jeffree. I refuse to buy products from a racist who finds it appropriate to use the N word and threatens to spill acid over people. I won’t give a single cent of my money to a person who will overflow the market with gimmicky products (black highlighter?) just to get more money from his fans. I won’t buy anything from a person who reacts to criticism by sending his army of loyal fans to attack the critic. And don’t even get me started on all the stories about horrible customer service of the company. WILL NOT BUY. BYE.

Čisto na vrhu mojega seznama se nahaja znamka JEFFREE STAR COSMETICS. S to znamko imam toliko problemov, da sploh ne vem, kje naj začnem, zato jih bom naštela le nekaj. Njihovih izdelkov ne bom kupila zaradi vedenja lastnika, YouTube zvezdnika Jeffree-ja Stara. Ne bom kupovala izdelkov, za katerimi stoji rasist, ki se mu zdi primerna uporaba besede na N in ljudem grozi, da jih bo polil s kislino. Niti centa svojega denarja ne dam osebi, ki na trg pošilja neuporabne izdelke (črn osvetljevalec?!) le zato, da od svojih privržencev dobi še kakšen dolar. Ne bom podpirala osebe, ki se na kritike odzove tako, da nad kritika pošlje svojo vojsko oboževalcev, ki ga potem nadlegujejo in mu grozijo. Vseh slabih izkušenj strank s podjetjem pa tu sploh ne bom naštevala. NE BOM KUPILA. ČAO!

Next, let’s talk about KYLIE COSMETICS. I despise the Kardashian trend as it is, but what I despise even more is that one of them can put their name on a product they probably didn’t even have much to do with before it launched. Just by doing this the price tag increases incredibly and sells out in matter of minutes. Like, c’mon, really? And excluding a few extra ingredients in the Colourpop liquid lipsticks (6$), the formula of Kylie’s Liquid Lipsticks (17$) is identical – because both are produced by Spatz Labs. Customers have received lipsticks with destroyed applicators, lipsticks that were leaking and even empty boxes. And Kylie is laughing all the way to the bank. WILL NOT BUY. BYE.

Naslednja znamka na seznamu je KYLIE COSMETICS. Že v osnovi preziram Kardashian trend, kar pa mi je še bolj grozno je, da lahko njegovi člani svoje ime prilepijo na karkoli, pri čemer pa verjetno sploh kaj dosti ne sodelujejo pri nastajanju izdelkov. Samo s tem, da je na izdelku napisano njihovo ime, se cena izjemno poveča in se izdelek razproda v nekaj minutah. Resno? Če primerjamo Colourpop formulo tekoče šminke (6$) in Kylie Cosmetics tekoče šminke (17$), lahko ugotovimo, da je v Colourpop formuli nekaj sestavin več, sicer pa sta formuli praktično identični. Ne gre za naključje – obe namreč proizvaja Spatz Labs. Stranke so prejele šminke z uničenimi aplikatorji, šminke, ki so puščale in celo prazne škatle. Kylie pa se smeje cel čas na poti do banke. NE BOM KUPILA. ČAO!

LIMECRIME is not that popular in Slovenia but nevertheless I see young women lusting over their liquid lipsticks like they’re the best thing on Earth. Well, it just so happens that Limecrime has a very shady history. We can talk about how they repackaged wholesale products into their tubes and sold them forward. We can talk about when they had a breach of security in their internet payment protocol (which resulted in people’s credit cards being charged 1000’s of dollars) and thought Instagram was the best way to let their customers know about this. Or, we can discuss the time when their founder dressed up like Hitler for Halloween. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. WILL NOT BUY. BYE.

LIMECRIME znamka v Sloveniji sicer ni tako popularna, še vedno pa jo občasno zasledim na seznamu želja kakšne deklice, ki meni, da so njihovi izdelki nekaj najboljšega na svetu. Na žalost ima znamka zelo temno preteklost. Kakšno besedo lahko spregovorim o tem, kako so formule iz veleprodaje le prepakirali v svoje embalaže in jih prodali dalje. Lahko govorimo o tem, kako so po vdoru v plačilni sistem na njihovi spletni strani (ki je določene stranke stal tudi več tisočev dolarjev v zlorabi kartice) svoje stranke o tem obvestili le na Instagramu. Ali pa se lahko ozremo v čas, ko se je ustanoviteljici znamke zdelo primerno, da se za Halloween obleče v kostum Hitlerja. Vse to je le vrh ledene gore. NE BOM KUPILA. ČAO!

A brand that’s all the rage right now all over YouTube and in beauty community is MORPHE. I have nothing against brand advertising with both ATL and BTL methods as long as the advertiser is being open and honest about it. But you see so  many Youtubers rave about Morphe palettes and then never once mention them in their Favorites videos.  I had the chance to swatch them and I’d say that the palettes are nothing  special. But the thing that I really dislike is that the brand is really just doing private labeling – the use the same formulas being sold by other (cheaper!) brands, repackage them, change the names and sell them with profit. So basically anyone could do that. WILL NOT BUY. BYE.

Znamka, ki je v zadnjem letu preplavila YouTube in lepotno skupnost je MORPHE. Nič nimam z oglaševanjem na ATL in BTL kanalih, dokler je takšno oglaševanje transparentno in oseba, ki oglaševanje izvaja, to tudi prizna. Vendar pa sem naveličana tega, da od različnih YouTuberjev poslušam, kako neverjetna in čudovita je ta Morphe paleta in da jo enostavno moram imeti,  hkrati pa te iste palete nikoli več ne vidim niti na njihovem kanalu, niti ni omenjena v njihovih mesečnih najbolj priljubljenih izdelkih. Sama sem imela možnost eno od mnogih palet preizkusiti in rečem lahko, da res ni nič posebnega. Kar pa me pri znamki najbolj moti, je da v resnici tudi oni uporabljajo formulo, ki se proizvaja za več znamk, jo samo prepakirajo, dodajo svoje ime in jo prodajo z visokim dobičkom. Na ta način bi lahko imel znamko praktično kdorkoli. NE BOM KUPILA. ČAO!

Last but not least I want to say a few words about a brand that I actually own quite a few products from, MAKE-UP REVOLUTION. I’ve written quite a few blog posts about their products already but now I can say that I won’t be buying their products anymore because they are nothing short of thieves, even if they’re »just« stealing intellectual property. They see a new product by a high-end brand come out, take it, slightly change the name (like when they copied Kat Von D’s Shade&Light Eye Contour Palette and named it Ultra Eye Contour Shade&Light), copy everything else and sell it as »their« own product. If you’re curious about their practice, just Google it – they’ve ripped off Charlotte Tilbury, Laura Mercier, Smashbox, Stila, Tarte, Hourglass, Real Techniques, Soap and Glory, Ben Nye and many others. And to top it all off, they are proud and call themselves »kings of dupes«. Well, they can keep their dupes. WILL NOT BUY. BYE.

Nenazadnje še nekaj besed o znamki, o kateri sem na blogu že pisala, pred časom pa sem se odločila, da so presegli mejo dobrega okusa. Ta znamka je MAKE-UP REVOLUTION. V mojih očeh so postali lopovi, pa čeprav kradejo »samo« intelektualno lastnino. Ko na trg pride popularen izdelek dražje in popularne blagovne znamke, ga vzamejo, malo spremenijo ime (kopiji Kat Von D palete Shade&Light Eye Contour Palette so nadeli kar ime Ultra Eye Contour Shade&Light), skopirajo vse podobnosti in izdelek prodajo kot lasten izum. Če te zanima več o njihovih praksah, si lahko več poiščeš na internetu – kopirali so že izdelke mnogih blagovnih znamk, na primer Charlotte Tilbury, Laura Mercier, Smashbox, Stila, Tarte, Hourglass, Real Techniques, Soap and Glory, Ben Nye in drugih. Da pa je mera polna, so na to svojo dejavnost ponosni in se dejansko imenujejo »kralji ponaredkov«. No, svoje ponaredke lahko obdržijo. NE BOM (VEČ) KUPILA. ČAO!

These are just a couple of brands that I have a very negative opinion on and wanted to share it with you. Do you have any brand in mind that you’d never buy from? Let me know in the comments. Until next time, stay beautiful!

To je le nekaj znamk, o katerih imam negativno mnenje in sem ga želela deliti s tabo. Obstaja tudi kakšna znamka, ki je ti ne kupuješ iz principa? Zakaj? Povej mi v komentarjih, do naslednjič pa ostani čudovita!

*Photos in the post by: Thou Shalt Not Covet (Jeffree Star), Curvyliciousme (Morphe), Teen Vogue (Kylie Cosmetics), KVD (KVD-Make-up Revolution) and Peppermayo (Limecrime)*

 
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BLOGMAS #6: BEST OF 2016 – MAKEUP ***** NAJBOLJŠI IZDELKI LETA 2016 – LIČILA


The year is coming to an end and among other things, a post about my favorite make-up products in 2016 is an absolute necessity. I reviewed quite a few of these products during the year. Where such post already exists, I’m including a link so you can read about the product in detail.

Eden od letnih zaključkov, ki je vsekakor nujen, je takšna objava o mojih naljubših ličilih, s katerimi sem se srečala v letu 2016. Mnogo teh izdelkov sem tekom leta že ocenila – kjer takšna ocena obstaja, bom vedno dodala povezavo, da si lahko prebereš še moje podrobno mnenje.

I tried to choose one product in each category but had to leave some categories out (like bronzer) because I simply didn’t find a product that would amaze me in 2016. Since there are still a bunch of products I want to talk about, let’s get started!

V vsaki kategoriji sem poizkusila izbrati en izdelek, pri čemer pa sem morala nekaj kategorij izpustiti (na primer bronzer), ker enostavno letos nisem našla izdelka, ki bi me tako očaral, da bi ga danes želela deliti s tabo. Ker pa je ličil vseeno veliko, predlagam, da kar začneva.


Let’s start at the base. My favorite primer of the year is L’Oreal Infallible Mattifying base. It’s a silicone primer that was put on hold during the warm summer months, but in normal weather this primer creates a lovely base on my face, fills the pores and prepares the skin for the liquid foundation. In that category, I really enjoyed the Catrice HD Liquid Coverage which is a mattifying foundation. Dropper made sure that the application was simple and besides being mattifying, this foundation also excelled in coverage. I also have to mention the Cover FX Custom Cover Drops (review *here*) that truly amazed me this year. I mixed them with primer, day cream, BB creams and other liquid foundation. They always blended nicely and made my skin look nice and fresh. Last but not least I want to mention the Maybelline Affinitone concealer that is creamy and thick (more than I can say for most concealers I own) so I mainly use it to cover imperfections and not for highlighting under my eyes. It’s too heavy and creamy for that in my opinion.

Začniva pri osnovah. Moj najljubši primer leta je L’Oreal Infallible Mattifying base. Gre za silikonski primer, ki je v največji vročini sicer počival v predalu, vendar pa mi v normalnih temperaturah ustvari lepo podlago na koži, zapolni pore in kožo s tem pripravi na tekočo podlago. Med temi sem letos uživala predvsem v uporabi Catrice HD Liquid Coverage, ki je mat tekoča podlaga. Kapalka poskrbi za enostaven nanos, poleg matiranja pa se ta podlaga lahko pohvali tudi z dobro prekrivnostjo. Poleg te podlage dodajam še Cover FX Custom Cover Drops (ocena *tu*), kapljice, ki so me letos poleti resnično navdušile. Dodajala sem jih primerjem, dnevni kremi, BB kremam in drugim tekočim podlagam, s katerimi so se odlično zmešale in ustvarile lep, svež videz moje kože. Nenazadnje je tu še Maybelline Affinitone korektor, ki je bolj kremast in gost, kot je to značilno za večino korektorjev v moji last, zato ga uporabljam predvsem za prekrivanje nepravilnosti na koži, ne pa toliko za osvetlitev predela pod očmi, saj je za to po mojem mnenju pretežak in pregost. View Post

Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick review

I’ve been dreaming about owning one of these lipsticks ever since I first saw them online. I didn’t know anything about the formula, but I was simply enchanted by the bullet.

So when opportunity arose, one of these beauties (there are 39 shades available!) found a home with me. Meet Lolita, a lovely chestnut rose shade which comes across slightly lighter than it looks in the bullet.

The Studded Kiss lipstick is very soft, almost velvety on the mouth. The formula is quite thick so it definitely is a single layer lipstick but with the thickness, it causes a bit of a tug on the lips so they need to be properly moisturized beforehand. It’s not as long lasting as I would like, but I can still have a drink and kiss my boy without any transfer. However, it does not pass the salad test 🙂

As most Kat Von D products, these lipsticks are 100 % cruelty free and vegan.

The lipsticks are available from Sephora or Kat Von D online store for 21 $. If you are on the lookout

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

My monthly make-up basket – July 2016

Originally, I was planning on doing two make-up baskets per month, but let’s face it, even I don’t have that much make-up to constantly swap items, so I am afraid that it would become rather boring. Instead, I’ll be doing this once a month and doing some additional reviews on the Monday I now have free to post whatever I like 🙂

So here are some of the products that I’ll be using and hopefully loving for the next few weeks.

Starting with the face, I’ll still be using the L’Oreal Infallible primer, but I actually bought the foundation to go along with it – the L’Oreal Infallible 24h-matte (in shade Sand). I hear that the combination works well together so I’m excited to give it a go. The shade of foundation is perhaps a tad too dark at the moment, but as I’m typing this from my seaside vacation, I’m sure that will probably change in a couple of days or so.

I’m going to give another go with the Freedom Pro Conceal and Correct palette. While the shade selection in this palette is really great, I find that the concealers are quite hard to blend and tend to crease on me. Perhaps a good primer will make a difference.

I’ll also be reaching for my Essence lights of the orient bronzer that has a hint of highlight in the middle. I fear this will be a bit too orange for me but we’ll see. To be on the safe side, I also brought my beloved Sleek palette (Fair) that includes a nice bronzer, a lovely coral blush and a decent highlighter.

I’ll also be trying out some new Ardeco goodies – a strobing fluid and contouring powders (lighter 12 – vanilla chocolate and darker 21 – dark chocolate). View Post