Monday 27 October 2014

Drugstore Haul #1

 

Batiste dry shampoo // 150ml 
Ok, I admit that I probably didn´t need to buy 3 bottles of dry shampoo, but they were on sale for £1,50 and I love Batiste dry shampoo so I just went ahead and stocked up. Yes, I am one of those People who loves to buy things when they are on sale. You too?

L´Oreal Hair Expertise shampoo & conditioner // 250ml
I have been eyeing this hair care line for a while now. Because they were on sale for £3 each I finally picked them up (told you I like sales). I went for the smoothing & moisture/nourish series and hope they will work as promised, fingers crossed! For those of you wondering this line contains no sulfates or silicones.
 
 
Vaseline "spray & go" body moisturizer // 190ml
Again, another product I have been curious to try out for a while now. As it has a rather steep price I kept pushing it off but as it was on sale at "Boots" (UK Drugstore) this week I finally picked it up for about £3. I am not sure if this will be moisturizing enough for my dry skin but sure looks fun to play with.

Dove intense repair express conditioner // 180ml
I have already repurchased this product twice and will probably keep repurchasing it as it is one of my favorite conditioners at the drugstore. It does a great job at keeping your hair soft and smooth.

Original Source skin quench "Watermelon & Jojoba oil" shower gel // 250ml
You have to smell this in store. If you like watermelon scented products, I promise you won´t be disappointed with this one. It smells amazing! For £1,35 it went straight into my basket and is now waiting to be used. I am super excited to try this out!

Have you bought anything lately?
 
xoxo,
Christina

Wednesday 22 October 2014

NotW: Essence "Disco, Disco"



I love a french manicure. In fact a couple of years ago that was probably the only nail design I would wear. It´s just so elegant and classic, perfect for every occasion! This week I decided to do a french manicure with a little twist. Hope you like it as much as I do! 
   

How to recreate this design:

1. Apply two coats of a sheer pink nail polish (I used Kiko #207)

2. Then take Essence "Disco, Disco" nail polish and start applying it on the tips of your nails. It doesn´t have to be neat at all, which makes application super easy. Wait until the first coat dries completly and then apply another one.

3. Apply your favorite top coat and your done!


Do you have a favourite go-to design?
 
xoxo, 
Christina

Saturday 18 October 2014

Top 5 MAC Pigments


Pigments...
For years now I have been having a love/hate relationship with them because they can be a real pain to apply. The pigmentation however is stunning and I love how sparkly they look on the eyelids. So whenever I do find some extra time to apply I will probably be wearing one of these: 
    


*all shades were swatch wet
Copperized
Is definitely my favorite (MAC) pigment of all times. I really love green eye shadows, but I feel they can be hard to find sometimes. This olive green shade is amazing; I love how sparkly it looks especially over a black base as it makes the color stand out even more. If MAC decides to re-promote this shade (please do!)  I will be the first in line to get it
 
Mauvement
When “Mauvement” was launched with the "Fabulous Felines" collection back in 2010, I wasn´t really interested in pigments which is why I pretty much ignored it. Big mistake. I was thrilled to see that MAC re-promoted this shade in one of their holiday sets that same year because this cool taupe color with a slight golden shimmer is amazing. I love wearing it with golden and dark burgundy shades for a sultry make-up look. 
 
Melon
Is a cult classic. When I first bought it I was afraid that the color was going to be too orange on me, but luckily that’s not the case. I especially love using it  in summer for a smoky golden-peach look.
 
Tan
Is a pinky brown color that brings out my green eyes beautifully. I feel tan is a true all-around color that would suit anyone. It goes on so smooth and vibrant (even applied dry) which is why I can recommend this color particularly for beginners. As I have the old packaging with 7gr. I am sure this one will last me a lifetime and I couldn´t be happier about it. 
 
Softwash Grey
Is a grey with a blue/purple duo chrome. I feel this is truly a one of a kind shade, particularly worth checking out if you have blue eyes. Most of the times I wear this shade all over the lid and the crease with some black eyeliner and I always get asked what I am wearing when I use this. Love it!

How do you feel about pigments? What are your favorites? Anything you would recommend?
 
xoxo, 
Christina

Tuesday 14 October 2014

Almost empties - products I have hit pan on!


Hitting the pan on a product has always felt bittersweet. I love to know that I got all my money’s worth out of a product yet at the same time it kind of sad to see an item you enjoy using being almost done, especially when it is a limited edition item. As weird as it may sound I have caught myself stopped using a product because of that, a habit I am now intending to ban out of my life. Has anyone experienced that feeling before as well?

I thought I would go through my collection and pick out the items I have „hit pan on“ to work on them and completely finish them up and these are the ones I found.

KIKO "Unexpected Rosy Taupe"
I love how the product looks in the pan. It is a very sparkly, unique rose taupe shade that when used dry is a bit of pain to apply because there is plenty of fall-out. You also really need to pack the product on your brush in order for it to show up on your lids, which is why I prefer to apply it wet. 
Repurchase?: No, because of the fall-out.

Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner in "Espresso"
The Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner is probably one of my favourite gel liners out there (even over MAC fluidline). The colour is very pigmented and it just seems to have the right consistency (not to liquid and not to stiff if you know what I mean). "Espresso" is a dark chocolate brown colour and a great alternative to black eyeliner. Mine is starting to get old which is why I really need to use it up. Nonetheless I can recommend this to anyone out there looking for a good gel eyeliner.
Repurchase?: Yes, but not "Espresso".

Maybelline "Fit me“ powder
It´s an ok powder, nothing more nothing less.
Repurchase?: As the packaging is quite bulky, I probably won´t. 

Maybelline "Permanent Taupe" colour tattoo
The Maybelline colour tattoos are amazing. They last all day long and can be worn as a base or on their own. I really like that they don´t crease on me, even if I don´t use any eye primer under it. Big thumbs up!
Repurchase?: Yes

MAC "Trace Gold" blush
If you are looking for a golden bronze look, look no further. This is a perfect blush for that. I almost exclusively were this in summer.
Repurchase?: Definitely yes!

Bobbi Brown corrector in "light bisque"
Ok, I´ll be honest.. I can´t remember the last time I have worn this. I think it´s because I found great full coverage concealers, so I don´t feel I need this anymore. However as this was a rather expensive product, I will use it up (maybe in combination with some light coverage concealers?). Any suggestions?
Repurchase?: No.

MAC "Patina" eye shadow
My absolute all-time favourite MAC eye shadow. I think this is going to be one of those products that I will continue to repurchase until the end of times. This works perfect on any skin tone and colour combination on your lids. A must have in your collection!
Repurchase?: Yes!

Catrice "Oh, It´s Toffeeful" eye shadow
My dupe for MAC “Patina” eye shadow. It´s not exactly the same colour but it is pretty close. My only concern with this shade is that when I apply it on my lid, I feel that throughout the day it kind of vanishes. Therefore I mainly use it on my crease or as a blending shade. Other than that it´s a great product and for only a fraction of the price of a MAC shadow, I can´t complain!
Repurchase?:They have discontinued it, thankfully I still have some back-ups.

MAC "Ricepaper" eye shadow
This was the first MAC eye shadow I ever purchased. I use it to highlight underneath my eyebrow and in the inner corner. I also like to apply it all over the lid for a subtle every day look. One of MAC´s underrated eye shadows if you ask me.
Repurchase?: Yes!


What products have you hit pan on? 
Would you consider repurchasing them once they are done?

xoxo, 
Christina
 

Friday 10 October 2014

Monthly Empties: September 2014


Balea "Schrundensalbe" // 50ml // £1.50
I bought this foot lotion on my last trip to Germany at "dm" and I LOVE it. It is the best foot lotion I have ever tried as it is leaves your feet feeling super moisturized and soft. I will definitely be repurchasing this one next time I visit. 

Sally Hansen strengthening nail polish remover // 200ml // £2.00
One thing I have noticed after using this nail polish remover is that it doesn´t leave my cuticles feeling dry (a problem I used to have with other nail polish removers). I really liked how easy it removed my nail polish (granted that removing glitter nail polishes is always a challenge, no matter what I use). It is on the pricy side but it´s worth the money.

Garnier body lotion // 200ml // £2-3
An all-time favorite. A couple of years ago my skin was feeling very dry and itchy so I went to the drugstore determined to find a body lotion that had "urea" in it as it is supposed to be very moisturizing. I walked out with the Garrnier body lotion and it has been a faithful companion ever since (probably around 5 years now!). I you haven´t tried it before, definitely give it a go and let me know what you think about it. 

Dirty Works hand cream // 100ml // £1-2
If you like the smell of Soap and Glory you will noticed a certain similarity with this one. In fact, to me it smells exactly the same.
The cream itself is good but I didn´t really knocked me out my feet so I am still looking for "the one". Any tips?

St. Ives Apricot scrub // 30ml // £1
This little travel size (30ml) lasted forever (forever = 6 months). I only used it once a week (sometimes even once every 2 weeks). 
Although I did enjoy it I don´t think I will repurchase it because it was too harsh for my dry/combination skin.

Fa cream bath // 500ml // £2-3
I know this says cream bath but I used it as a shower gel for most of the time. The product itself is alright however I just didn´t like the smell so I don´t think I will be repurchasing it anytime soon.

Essence liquid eyeliner "waterproof" // 8ml?// £2.50
I really really wanted to like this eyeliner, but I just can´t. After about a month of using it, it started to smell really bad (like some sort of construction paint) and although it says waterproof, it always ended up smudging on my eyes as soon as water came even near it (tears, rain, you name it). Needless to say I won’t be repurchasing it. 
 

What products did you go through this month?

xoxo, 
Christina
 

Tuesday 7 October 2014

NotW: Essie "Where´s my chauffeur"

Welcome to my blog and my first blog post!

While summer may have officially ended, my love for this beautiful nail polish has certainly not. 


I will admit that I am not really a blue/teal nail polish kind of girl but what can I say... Essie "Where´s my chauffeur" stole my heart. It is not only super easy to apply (thanks to the wider brush) but also the perfect blend between light blue and teal. 

I found this little gem at my local TK Maxx for only £2.99. Not bad, right?  


How to recreate this design:
 
1. Apply two coats of Essie´s "Where´s my chauffeur" on your nails. 
 
2. Once the polish has completely dried, use the Konad m64 stamping plate and a white stamping polish (I used the Essence "white" stamping polish) to apply the design on your nails. 
 
3. Then apply one coat of your favorite top coat (mine is Essence "Better than Gel Nail Top Coat") and while it´s drying place the rhinestones on your nails. I used tweezers for an easier application.
 
4. To secure the rhinestones apply a second coat of your favorite top coat and voilá, you’re done!

Let me know what you think about this nail design.
Will you be trying it out?

xoxo,
Christina