Everyday Makeup

I thought I'd give you a little idea of my everyday makeup look. It's really natural and I guess there's not much you can get from my picture, but as you can clearly see, there are lots of products involved to get this so-called au naturel look.

My base consists of my most beloved combo : Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation - Estee Lauder Double Wear Concealer - Rimmel Stay Matte Powder. I apply the foundation with a MAC 188 brush, concealer always with fingers and then to mattify the whole face, I powder using a Body Shop brush, which I conveniently forgot to include in the picture!!

My favourite blush at the moment is Raisin by Nyx which I apply with an Elf blush brush - oh. my. god. this brush is sooo soft. Moving on to the eyes, I really love a matte mauvy nude eye and the MUA Ever After palette has the exact colour I need - Chino that is. I put this eyeshadow on top of my trusty Maybelline Color Tattoo in Permanent Taupe. To finish up the eyes I use my brand new Sephora Outrageous Volume Mascara.

Coming to the lips, I told you I have a favourite lip combo involving the Seventeen Longstay Lip Shaper in Buff and here it is.. First I apply a light wash of Seventeen's Matte Lipstick in no.14, more as a stain ,then I put my trusty lip liner on top and voila... My look is complete!!

Shop 'til you drop

Alternative title : Eat - Shop - Repeat, without the Eat of course!! As you can see I went out on a binge and bought everything I've thought this last month, all at once!!

It all started with a simple visit on BeautyJoint. Big mistake!! The shopping cart was getting fuller and fuller and with great self-restraint I managed to limit my purchase to only four products.

The first, and the reason why I went on the website in the first place, was of course the NYX Slim Lip Pencil in Mauve. Rumor has it that it's a dupe for a certain lip pencil a certain celebrity wears - *cough* Whirl *cough* Kylie Jenner - so I went for it!! 

Then I stumbled upon the Studio Matte Lip Color by Elf and just couldn't resist to another nude matte lipstick, so I got one in the shade Tea Rose.

And then I remembered all the good things I've heard about the Jordana Matte Lipsticks, so I got one of these too.. in the shade Taupe, which surprisingly is just the same as the mauve lip pencil from NYX.

To end the BeautyJoint binge, I decided to get this little Blossom Blush Brush, which is just great for contouring!!

But that wasn't all, because the next thing is a Sephora suddenly appearing before me.. so I went in.. and got a thing or two - most likely three!!

First I was on the look for a new mascara and my eye caught the Sephora Outrageous Volume Mascara. It has a very similar wand to Benefit's They're Real Mascara, so I thought to give it a try.

Then I recalled that I always wanted a nude eye pencil so I got the Sephora Long Lasting Kohl Pencil in Infinite Beige to try out.

And as there weren't enough for me, at the cash register I saw a travel sized GlamGlow Mud Mask just standing and waiting for me to buy it. And so I did!!

There are a lot of stuff, I know!! And I will probably have to starve for the rest of the month.. but what can I say??? I love them all and I'll manage!!!

Seventeen Longstay Lip Shaper Review

As I've already said in the previous post, recently I'm all about the nudes and the browns. So as I was looking for the perfect nude lip pencil, I stumbled upon this one from Seventeen Cosmetics. The Longstay Lip Shaper ( I have it in no.21 - Buff ) is just a revelation.

Let's start with the colour. It's a nude with brown and mauve undertones, although if used with a light hand it can almost disappear on the lips. My lips are pale by nature and the colour appears vividly, so have this in mind when purchasing nude lip products. On it's own it gives a my-lips-but-better look but paired with a little more browny lipstick, it gives the full 90's feel.

The consistency is great - not too dry that is, but as with all lip pencils, it's essential to have hydrated lips. A thin layer of lip butter underneath and this one feels and looks just like a lipstick. Regarding its staying power, I give it a 9/10. It's good, but don't expect it to be there after dinner. Nothing I wouldn't expect, especially for the price of it. 

The Body Shop Shimmer Waves Review

Now this is a post I wanted to make ages ago and ultimately the time has come!

Shimmer Waves from The Body Shop is a product that has been in my make up collection for years and years, but just when I thought to make a post about it, then came the time that I hit pan and I decided to wait until I got a new one. The sacrifices we make for the sake of photographs.

This product comes in three shades - I have the one in Bronze - and as the official promotion states , its "Five shimmering shades for face and cheeks in one neat compact.". All five of them are very pigmented and can be used individually to create the perfect summer eye makeup or all swirled up together on the cheeks for a bronzy glow. I also like to use the gold shade on its own as a highlighter both in the inner corners of my eyes and on the tops of my cheeks. For the days that I want a more subtle rosy flush on my cheeks, I choose to omit the deep bronze shade.

Over the years, it has proven to be a must have product for the warmer months - dull, cold weather and pale skin don't go well with this - and is also very useful for summer vacations, when you don't want to bring all your make up with you. This multipurpose product gives endless possibilities to create a lot different looks and I'll go out on a limb and say that you can take this with you and leave all your other eyeshadows and highlighters at home resting.

Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde Mascara Review

Here we are again with another review and another beloved product. I bought this mascara two weeks ago, when I was in desperate need of a waterproof formula!! I put my faith in this new one from Bourjois and I wasn't disappointed - it's been a while since a product had completely let me down fortunately.

I've included a close up photo of the wand, since it's the thing that's so unique about this mascara. It's plastic and spiky but has little plastic spheres going on through it, that supposedly hug the lashes and give mega volume. Which I can say is pretty true!
This mascara gives volume and separation enough for a morning look if you apply one coat and then it's buildable enough to provide really black and voluminous lashes. but separation is the key here and you'll never get a grungy clumpy look out of this one!

Now about the formula, it's waterproof of course and it does the job perfectly without smudging or smearing or any other stuff that come with regular mascaras. And I live in a country where summer is relentless and without mercy, so trust me when I say that this works!!
One thing that comes hand in hand with the word waterproof is the fact that this mascara is a little bit on the dry side. It doesn't glide on the lashes but I find that this dryer formula gives more separation and this is all that counts for me!

H&M Liquid Eyeliner in Bronze

I know this post in looong overdue, as it was supposed to be up last week, but it's better late than never, so let's get to it!!

Although the name of the shade is, as you can see, Bronze, my opinion is that it's far from accurate. It's most likely a khaki or olive green colour, but I'll let this one pass and attribute the name to the colour of the metallic glitter of this eyeliner, that is infact bronze! I made a little introduction two weeks ago in this post and told you about the almost aluminum foil effect this liner has, which I find really unique and impressive.

The consistency is really liquidy and the applicator is a typical thin brush, so if you are accustomed to the regular liquid eyeliners then this will be a piece of cake! Now, you may think that being an H&M product, it's immediately a lower quality one too. So let me tell you, no! This is the most waterproof liner I've ever come across in my life and I'm really bummed this doesn't come in black! It dries really quick and then stays forever.

If you want a little something extra from your liner and not the typical black line, then this is perfect for you. Also great for brown eyes, as it really brightens as well as defines them!