Showing posts with label Aussie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aussie. Show all posts

New in #31


MAX FACTOR Creme Puff Blush
20 Lavish Mauve
I had major doubts these will ever reach Slovenia, but they did. The price is higher than I expected and they really "spoiled" us with the selection of four shades, but at least they decided to include the one I had my eye on from the start. Lavish Mauve was the least shimmery and coolest out of the four. I thought it's similar to Catrice's Nuts About You, but when I swatched them side by side, they revealed to be very different, as Lavish Mauve is a much cooler, pink-mauve-violet shade with tiny duo chrome violet-gold shimmer, which I can't see on the cheeks. It's soft and decently pigmented, but I don't get that famous "glow" on my cheeks with this one, just a classic flush. You'll see how it looks in my review, but if you want to see it sooner, since I need to take pictures of Lovely Pink before, I can put a quick picture on Instagram.
Müller, 12.79 €

*05 Lovely Pink
Just today Max Factor surprised me by sending me another shade completely out of the blue. Lovely Pink was the second shade on my list and I remember from the swatches I made in the shop that this one was one of the more glowy ones. It is indeed more glowy on the cheek as Lavish Mauve, though I just got it today and I spent two hours in a hot car before trying it, but I could see that small shimmer reflecting on my cheek. It's a warm pink shade and the shimmer is gold.

*MAX FACTOR Colour Intensifying Balm
30 Redefined Rose
Another new release by MF and the other part of my surprise package. It is, as described, an intense lip balm, well in terms of colour that is, and it features a nice moisturising formula. Redefined Rose looks absolutely gorgeous in the packaging, but the colour on my lips surprised me, as it's lighter and a bit cooler pink than I expected - it actually reminds me of how Creme Cup looks on my lips, but I'm sure it's my neutral skin tone that gives it that hue as it looks much warmer of other people's swatches. The pigmentation is better than expected and it's semi opaque with one or two coats, but it can be built-up to pretty much full opacity. I have no doubts this colour will be universally loved.


CATRICE Longlasting Lip Pencil
030 Berryson Ford
I saw this lip liner on Sara's blog and it was this shade from that post that appealed to me most. It's a deep berry-burgundy colour that reminds me of shades like L'Oreal's Laetitia, Bourjois Grand Cru and Catrice's lip liner in Love the Way you Plum. This shade is like a mix of all three I mentioned, so it's a very autumnal/winter colour.
Müller, 2.29 €

ESSENCE Longlasting Lipliner 
05 Lovely Frappuccino
Everyone is going gaga for this liner and Nadja even found it being very similar to the very coveted Soar lip liner. I have been avoiding it for a long time because I'm not a fan of Essence lip liners and my experience with the Satin Mauve liner wasn't the best, but of course I caved mostly because Sara said I should just get it already. Thank you! I think I really like it. I'm still a bit on the edge, but my mom liked it straight away on me and asked me if she can try it as well, however, some don't like this colour on me as it's supposedly too dark. It has been growing on me more and more, and I ended up wearing it loads. It's warmer than Satin Mauve, a tiny bit more red, but still cool enough and it actually looks like Soar and Brave do on most girls I've seen. Highly recommend this to any pale girl who can't find a match for her in the 90's trend revival. I already posted a picture of it on my lips here and it's also on my lips in the got2b photo bellow. 
Müller, 1.59€

ESSENCE Lipliner
15 Honey Berry
So basically I'm an idiot. I was going to get 05 Soft Berry after seeing it on Sara, but was too lazy to write the name on the phone, so I thought this was it. Anyway, it's wasn't a complete miss and it is a colour I don't have yet. On me it's a purple that is a bit similar to Yummy Berry, but a bit darker and cooler. 
I did check Soft Berry later, but I put it back on the stand because it looks so intimidatingly dark brown. 
Müller, 1.19€


*MAKEUP REVOLUTION Iconic Pro Lipstick
Propoganda
MR came out with another line of lipstick and I've seen all sorts of very appealing swatches on the internet, with pretty much everyone praising these. The first few applications negatively surprised me because they were so sheer, but thankfully when the top layer is gone, it reveals a very pigmented, creamy lipstick. The shade is a deep red that looks very glam also due to the shine, however, I would prefer it in a matte finish and it actually exists under a name Propoganda Matte. It's a very comfortable lipstick to wear and I like the rose gold part of the packaging, as it makes it very chic. I don't get the name though. Is it deliberately misspelled?
Do konca junija dobite na slovenski spletni strani Makeup Revolution s kodo BLOG17 17 % popusta.


ESSENCE Cinderella TE Blush
01 So this is Love
I managed to get a hold of one of the last ones of these before they completely disappear (I'm not sure when it was released in other countries though). I got it for just 1 €! What a bargain. Originally I wasn't interested in this blush much, but then I saw it's supposed to be a dupe for Mac's Hippness LE blush, which I wanted a lot time ago. It's a pink with a touch of coral, though on the cheeks it looks just pink. There is some gold shimmer in it as well, but it's not visible on the skin. It's not as pigmented as I expected from the intensity in the pan, so it's one you apply gradually. Cute little thing.
E.Leclerc, 0.99 €

Catrice Longlasting Lip Liner in I got you Babel on the lips. 


*REVLON Ultra HD Lipstick
Rose
Revlon came out with a new line of lipsticks, all adorably named after flowers and I got the shade Rose, which is a natural light pink shade. These aren't that far from their Lip Butters, except they are even softer and more pigmented. The lipstick feels very balmy on the lips and not at all drying even when the hours pass. It has a shiny finish and doesn't tend to last well, but that's expected due to the texture and also the shade. It has a very strong scent of ice cream (exactly like Planica), which obviously appeals to the sweet tooth side of me. You have to open the lid sooo carefully because the lipstick is very soft and it dents easily. I've been wearing this quite a lot since I got it because it's such a non-brainer shade and it's a nice replacement for a lip balm. 
I'm wearing it here.
Click2Chic, 10.89 €

*REVLON Colorstay Gel Envy
400 Royal Flush
Of course I chose a warm purple-pink shade, what else. This one also has a tiny bit of violet shimmer/frost inside that gives it that cool toned hue. I already review this shade here and I've never tried a more perfect one coater. I'm also wearing it in the picture with the Essence blush above.
Click2Chic, 8.49 €


CATRICE Luxury Lacquers Liquid Metal Nail Polish
01 Champagne Rain
Müller had 20 % off all nail polishes and it would be rude not to take advantage. Champagne Rain is a champagne gold shimmer that ends up looking completely opaque on the nails. It looks so glamorous, though I'm already dreading the removal process.
Müller, 3.79 €


L'OREAL Color Riche Nail Polish
205 Rose Bagatelle
L'Oreal's nail polishes appealed to me recently and I picked up this deep rosy nude shade. It's about a shade or two darker than Deborah 01 as well as a bit warmer. I needed two or three coats for full opacity as the formula is thin, especially compared to the new age gel formula nail polishes.
Müller, 4.99 €


*BORN PRETTY 10 Pairs of Eyelashes #HS-43
Born pretty has a ton of eyelashes to choose from and I decided on a pack of 10 that look similar to my favourite Ardell's Demi Wispies. When they arrived I noticed, they are in fact not that similar. They are shorter for about a third and more crisscrossed. I was afraid that they might be too short for me, and they are in the inner part of the eye, however, they are really long in the outer corners and give the eye that fluttery, elongated effect. I find these make my eyes look so much bigger. They are very pretty and fluttery lashes, though I do feel them a bit on the eyes and they are very difficult to get out of the box without ruining them.
I'm wearing them here.
Born Pretty, 3.99 $

*BORN PRETTY The Hot Shop Lipstick
#1
So this is blatantly copying Top Shop's lipsticks, but I'll withhold my judgement about that. I got shade number one, which looks very different from what I imagined based on the swatches. It looks completely orange in the tube, but it's one of those shades that looks peachy on the lips and is pinker the darker your skin is. On me it's still quite an orange-ish shade, but I imagine it would look amazing medium skin tones. It's a very moisturising and soft lipstick with a glossy finish, but not as soft as Revlon's one and it will definitely appeal to all of those who like more moisturising lipsticks. 


L'OREAL Gentle Eyes and Lips Make-up Remover
A lot of people swear by this remover, especially for waterproof mascara. I was using the Maybelline version a while ago and it was the best drugstore remover I've tried to date (best ever is Clarins' one). This is the same kind - a dual phase remover that needs to be shaken so that both liquids mix. I like how it stays mixed for a long time, because most cheap removers separate after a few seconds. As far as removal goes, it's similar to the Maybelline one, but perhaps not quite as effective or it's about the same and Maybelline's is cheaper. I'd say the only difference worthy of mentioning is that L'Oreal's version stays mixed longer. As far as drugstore waterproof makeup removers go, this is a nice one. 
Interspar, 4.99 €


BALEA Luxury Verwöhnmomente Badesaltz
Red Love
Luxury Pampering Moments Bath Salt Red Love
This smells so amazing. If you're familiar with Balea's Kokos & Nectarine shower gel, this is similar, except that it's a warmer and deeper scent. It's just a classic bath salt, so there aren't any bubbles, but it turns the water into this intense shade of red-pink. I love it and I will repurchase it, even though I hoped the scent will be stronger in the bath.
DM, 0.79 €
There is a whole new collection called Luxury, with a shower gel and another bath in this scent, and the same three items plus a hand cream and scrub in the Vanilla & Patchouli scent. So far I've only seen the bath salts and hand cream here.

PRINZESSIN STERNENZAUBER Märchenhaftes 2 in 1 Shampoo + Spülung
2 in 1 Shampoo and Conditioner
As I said in one of my previous posts, I can't walk past a product with a peach/nectarine scent. I found this quite randomly whilst exploring DM for new or interesting things. It again smells much like the discontinued Kokos & Nectarine scent, though it is a bit of a different candy peach scent. I got it to use as a shower gel, but I did use it as a shampoo once. It's a shampoo plus conditioner in one, but though it foams well, my hair didn't feel particularly nourished (also not terribly stripped) and my hair was quite tangly after using it, which didn't surprise me because it's a silicone free product. I didn't feel it cleaned all that well though, at least as far as the scalp is concerned, but it should be fine for children who don't use styling products anyway. 
DM, 1.79 €


GOT2B  Rise'n Shine Soufflé
Hoch Karäter Volumen + Glaz Soufflé
I watched this video from Luxy hair and saw that this is how my hair looks on the second and third day. She used a hair wax at the end and though I used to use such a product way, way back to tame my frizz, it never occurred to me to use to for curls as well. I had no idea which one to pick in the shop because no one talks about hair waxes that I know off, so I grabbed this one from Got2B because it promises a soufflé texture and it had a nice discount. It is exactly like a soufflé and you can feel the bubbles popping under your fingers. Consequently, it's s lot lighter than a regular wax, however, it still has that waxy feel and I wouldn't use this on thin hair that gets greasy fast. It does define the curls a bit, keeps them in place, perhaps even better than a hair spray and doesn't feel terribly heavy or greasy on my hair. I'm happy with it.
This is meant as a volumising product, but I see no scenario where this could be used for volume. Waxes aren't for volume, but for definition. For volume I'd get a texturizing spray.
Müller, 4 €



AUSSIE 3 Minute Miracle Reconstructor
A traditional repurchase. I opted to try out new cheaper drugstore conditioners and masks instead of buying this again purely because of the price. Well, I ended up with three rubbish conditioners and an emptier wallet. Nice one, Mateja. So this one finally had a decent discount and I just grabbed it, now I'm thinking I should have taken two. This is one of my favourite drugstore treatments as it actually works well on my hair, it nourishes, makes it feel sleeker and smells amazing like bubble gums. But why it has to cost almost three times as much as in the USA is beyond me.
Müller, regular price 7.99 €


JOHN FRIEDA Beach Blonde Ocean-Waves
I've never owned a proper salt spray before, I did try to make it myself, but I didn't like it. I heard about this one from Alix (I Covet Three) and I had little hope this will arrive here as well, but it did. Mind you it's only in certain Müllers, but at least they didn't forget us completely again. As Alix said it smells like summer, so it has this beachy, coconut-salty scent and that was one of the main reasons I bought it. It doesn't make the hair super crunchy, though it does leave that salt water feeling on the hair and it made decent enough beachy waves, however, real salt water does it way better. I've only used it once, so I need more play time with it.
Müller, 8.39 €

KNEIPP Badekristale Immer cool bleiben 
Stay Cool Bath Crystals
It was 30°C outside when I was shopping in Müller plus I've just been through an hour long drive and this caught my attention because it's so cute with the penguin chilling with the cocktail. Normally I don't associate baths with cooling down, however, this one contains mint and menthol, so I'm interested in how this works out. 
Müller, 1.29€


Shell and Starfish Soaps
I got these mainly as decoration. I've actually had these before also in a shape of a seahorse as these look so posh in the bathroom. The scent of these is so intense, it's just a classic clean scent and I love it.
Müller, 0.30 € per piece 


*YUMMY Rhubarb and Orange Shower Gel
This smells soo good! Yummy came out with three summer and cocktails inspired scents of their shower gels: Cranberry & Lime (brusnica in limeta), Elder & Mint (bezeg in meta) and Rhubarb & Orange (rabarbara in pomaranča). Mine smells so tropically-fruity sweet, but a tiny bit bitter, which makes it so fresh - I love it. Mom says it smells like Radenska ACE Tropik and I say it smells like Bibita (discontinued blue label one). Otherwise it's just a regular shower gel, which is luckily not as runny as the original ones, but as far as any skin care benefits go, there are none, but the scent is all that matter to me anyway.
Click2Chic, 5,95 € (500 ml)


Belles Saisons Eau De Cologne Lavande
I already spoke about this in my May favourites and I've been spraying this like crazy for weeks now. I discovered this whilst exploring E.Leclerc's beauty section (again. I love it because they have things that you can't get anywhere else in Slovenia) and I was buying spare razors in the men's section when this caught my eye and once I saw the price, I just shoved it in my shopping basket. I love the vintage feel of the glass bottle, it looks better in person and it's glass, so I keep it on display in my room, right next to L'Occitane's stuff. The scent is proper a lavender and even though it's a eau de cologne, when I spray a lot of it, it doesn't disappear in seconds .
E.Leclerc, 1.51 € (250 ml)

Anything you'd like to see a review or an Instagram picture of first? 

* - Products are PR samples.

Drugstore Recommendations for Dry Hair


PRE-WASH TREATMENTS

Coconut Oil
If your hair is really dry or at least your ends desperately need some extra care, oils are your best bet. Particularly coconut oil has proven to be excellent for hair because it's the only one that has the ability to penetrate into the cortex and also helps prevent protein loss. You simply apply it on dry hair before washing and leave it on as long you like, but the longer the better and leaving it overnight yields best results. Then you simply wash it off (you'll notice how much sleeker your hair is when rinsing off the shampoo) and continue with conditioner as well as the rest of the care. You can also heat the oil first in the microwave or use a hair dryer to warm it up as warm oil performs even better. People often ask me if putting a lot of oil on their hair will make it greasy - you'll wash it off. Unless you have a rubbish shampoo, all the oil simply washes off by shampooing twice. Coconut oil is sold in any bigger grocery store and drugstores (it's usually where the healthy food is), but beware of varying prices as I've seen some insane price tags and if you're paying over 10 €, it's too much.
Read more about coconut oil here on this genius blog, The Natural Haven Bloom, here and here

I found this quite randomly in E.Leclerc and though we have this brand just about everywhere here, for some reason I could only find this oil there. I think it's even better than coconut oil and it's my ultimate "über dry hair fixer". They decided to fit the bottle with a spray applicator, which was a bad move, since the oil is too thick and there is no way it could spray it into a mist, but you just spray it in the hands and apply it like that. I'm always very generous when applying it and I use it all over the hair since my entire length is dry, but you can easily just apply it on the ends if that is your only problematic area. I tend to leave it on overnight or all day if I'm at home and put my hair in a tight bun, then wash my hair in the morning or evening and let me tell you this oil has fantastic results. It deeply hydrates and nourishes the hair like nothing I've tried. My hair feels like it's transformed. But it doesn't work on dry hair after washing if you plan to use it as a leave-in as it is very greasy and heavy. 
E. Leclerc, 5-6 €

Other recommendations:
Macadamia Oil
Argan Oil
Jojoba Oil
Olive Oil

SHAMPOOS

I have tried many, many shampoos in my life, a large majority of them were from the drugstore and these two from L'Oreal win hands down. Performance-wise they are both about the same with the main difference being the scent. Extraordinary oil one has an oriental cinnamon-ish scent, while Glatt-Intense has a typical clean scent. The latter seems to have disappeared from our shelves, perhaps in order to be replaced by Extraordinary oil, but regardless, as I said they are so similar. The formula reminds me a lot of the much more expensive and utterly brilliant Oleo-Relax, so it's like a bit of conditioner was added to the shampoo, but it doesn't weight the hair down, just smooths it a bit. When I'm rinsing it off, there is none of that annoying squeaky clean, dry, my-hair-I'll-be-a-tangly-mess feeling and the hair can be combed a lot easier than at a lot of other shampoos. Best of all, these are on offer very often and you can get 400 ml at a bargain price of a few euros just about everywhere.

Other recommendations:

CONDITIONERS, MASKS AND TREATMENTS

Just as shampoos, I've tried my fair share of drugstore conditioners and though a large majority were disappointing (I just tried three new ones last month and all did not perform satisfactory), there are a few drugstore gems that I've been loyal to for years. They of course don't work as well as salon brands, especially when it comes to dry hair (I would suggest you still invest in one high-end one if your hair is really dry), but they still do their work admirably. Brilliant Brunette has been in my conditioners stash for so many years and when one runs out, a new one promptly takes its place. It feels quite light, yet it is moisturising enough for my dry hair and it leaves the hair feeling silky when I rinse it off, but there are two other things that it excels at and that is shine and scent. The scent is divine, it's like a mix of coconut and caramel in a more sophisticated way and this is the only conditioner/mask after which my hair smells nice for at least a day if not longer. I currently own a salon size 500 ml bottle, which comes with a very handy pump, while the regular sizes comes in a squeeze tube.
Price: 8.49 € for 250 ml in Müller and DM.

Things were shaky the first few weeks when I got my first Aussie Reconstructor, but it turned out to be one of my ultimate favourites. It's one of the rare conditioners that I consider being almost as good as some more expensive ones because the effects last a day or two longer on my hair, in particular when it comes to how long my hair stays moisturised. It has a gel-cream hybrid texture that is easy to apply on the hair and it smells just like Hubba-Bubba fruit fantasy bubble gum tape. I leave it on for longer than 3 minutes, usually about 20 minutes, but you can just leave for as long as you want to. It finally became available in Slovenia (can I get a hallelujah for that?), though it is quite pricey compared to the USA. 
Price: 8 € in Müller.

Elvital Total Repair 5 Intensiv Maske mit Reparatűr Serum 
Elvive Full Restore 5
This caught my eye when I saw it on Allure's list of best drugstore treatments, though it's has several different names and packaging, but I think mine is the right one. This is my first pot and though I liked it straight away, I'm more and more impressed by it with every use. Compared to most masks available on our market, this one performs really well on dry hair, it nourishes it and just does all the basic things I expect from a hair mask. The pudding-jelly cream consistency reminds me of Kérastase Nutritive Masquintense Epais-Thick, thought L'Oreal's version of course isn't as impressive as the Kérastase's, but it's certainly lovely for the price. I also tried the newest Extraordinary Oil version and it performs badly compared to this one, so I actually much prefer the combination of Extraordinary shampoo with Total Repair 5 mask. There is also another version of Total Repair in a violet packaging, but I haven't tried it yet. 
Müller, 6.39 €. I've seen only the violet version in DM.

Other recommendations:

HEAT PROTECTION

L'OREAL Studio Line Hot & Smooth Hot Straight Cream
Studio Line Hot&Glatt Thermo-Glättungs-Balm
I will be completely honest at this category and say that none of the drugstore heat protectors blew me away, also a lot of them contain alcohol, which is completely unnecessary for dry hair. However, I have been using L'Oreal's Studio Line Hot & Smooth (previously Silk & Gloss) for at least ten years, first on my hair and now on others. There are a few versions of heat protectors in this line - I have two, the lotion version and the aerosol one. I wouldn't recommend the latter for dry hair because it contains alcohol and it does feel a bit drying on the hair, however, the lotion is another story. It's a very basic, light heat protection that doesn't weight down the hair and does its job of protecting from heat. My bottle is very old and it has been repackaged, so I put the newest aerosol version next to it, which comes in the new design.
About 5 € in Műller.

Possibly interesting alternatives that I haven't tried yet, but heard good things about:

LEAVE-INS

I have exactly the same opinion about silicone oils as about heat protections - there aren't many that are actually good or comparable to salon brands ones. Yes, essentially they are all just good-old silicone serums with some oils. Big deal, right? However, most drugstore ones again have alcohol in it or even if they have nice ingredients, they don't work as well, mostly because they are too light (like for example the Garnier Fructis one). And since they are so light, dry hair just drinks them up in minutes and then it's like you didn't use anything, so you end up using so much oil for any effect. But Petra showed me one exception and it's brilliant. You can tell from the bottle, I've been loving this for the past months. The texture is comparable to salon brands "oils" in a sense that's it's thick, but it's not as thick as Orofluido or Macadamia Natural Oil's one, still it's much better than most drugstore oils. I don't tend to use it on damp hair, but rather after blow-drying to tame the frizz, give the hair a bit of nourishment and shine. It smells nice as well and the scent is like a mix of their "regular" green serum, which smells a bit like apples but in a hair salon way, plus some deep oriental note. I'm also a big fan of the pump, but I do mind that there is only 30 ml of it in the bottle because when you compare the prices per ml, Orofluido is not that more expensive if you know where to get the lowest price.
Avon, regular price 6.90€, but it's often on offer.


Öl-La-La Styling Öl-Spray 
This is basically just a very light silicone-oil in an aerosol form, which is wonderful for dry hair that needs a bit of a boots and even for those who find most liquid silicone-oils too heavy for their hair. It gives tons of shine, helps fight frizz and doesn't weight down the hair, which makes it a great choice to use when you wear your hair curly and you fear your curls will drop if you apply a proper hair oil. It's more of a styling/shine product, since the argan oil content is minimal and it doesn't actually nourish the hair much, however, it's much better than your average shine spray because most of those have a high content of alcohol. This spray is actually just cheating healthy, shiny hair in a can. I can spray a ton of it on my hair and it doesn't weigh it down one bit, build up or make it oily, however, my hair is dry and thick. 
I've seen Fructis does the same thing, but they obviously had to put alcohol in it, what else.
6.99 € in Müller.


I will sneakily add this leave-in as well because you can get it for as little as 12.70 € on Beauty Bay and one bottle lasts me well over a year. A good leave-in conditioner makes all the change when you have dry hair. It injects an additional boots of moisture, it helps the hair stay hydrated longer and this one also helps fight frizz. Using this, I can easily use a drugstore conditioner without having my hair dry by the end of second day after washing it. I don't even have to resort to using oil every day on my ends. It's hands down the best leave-in conditioner I've tried and if you're worried it's heavy, it's actually just a very light liquid.

Other recommendations:
JOHN FRIEDA Frizz Ease Daily Miracle Leave-In Conditioner - recommended by Živa from Nothin' Fancy. Really.

Have a great day!

Empties #13


This was a nice drugstore makeup remover, however, it's not as good as Bioderma. It feels the same, so like water and it's also unscented, but it just wasn't as effective and I needed to use a lot more of it. But considering the price, it's a great drugstore buy.
Repurchase: Yes.

This was one of the two drugstore creamy cleansers I tried when I was searching for a decent, budget-friendly replacement for Balance Me Cleanse & Smooth Face Balm, but unfortunately this didn't wow me at all. It's a standard creamy cleanser that cleans well and keeps dry patches at bay, but my skin didn't like this as much as the cheaper Good Things one. The strong granny-ish rose scent wasn't appealing either.
Repurchase: No.

I did not like this at all. I picked it up quite a while ago when I couldn't find my regular remover from Maybelline and I was struggling to use it up. It's a classic two-phase oily remover that's meant for removal of waterproof make up, however, the two "phases" wouldn't stay mixed after shaking the bottle for more than a few second. It's not particularly oily and that's probably one of the problems as it proved to be much less effective than my usual one and it required a lot more rubbing to get the mascara off (and even then I wasn't convinced it removed all). There are better drugstore ones.
Repurchase: No.


Pure Melt has such a unique texture that starts off as a thick gel, which when massaged into the skin turns into a thick oil and when water is added it emulsifies. It does a great job of removing make up, especially when it comes to waterproof mascara (it is an oil based cleanser after all). There is a slight filter left when just rinsed off with water, so I prefer using a washcloth to completely remove it and as most oil-based cleansers it makes my vision very foggy. I liked it because it removes makeup very well and has a unique texture, however, my skin didn't look as good as when I used other cleansers and my forehead became bumpy again. 
Repurchase: I don't think I will.

My favourite ever moisturiser and I will miss it so much. It's light, yet intensely moisturising, sinks in super fast and leaves a semi-matte, velvet finish on the skin, so it's a perfect choice for under make up. If only it weren't so expensive…
Repurchase: Yes.

This was such a hit and miss. Each of the strips worked differently (there were three). I followed the instructions exactly for the first one meaning I re-wetted the strip before peeling it off, but instead of pulling the blackheads out, it separated and left sticky blue goo on the skin that needed to be washed off.  I used the second one as I'd normally use any other, so just peeled it off after 15 minutes and it worked very well giving the strangest feeling of satisfaction when looking at all that gunk on the strip. The third one again malfunctioned and did a mix of the previous two experience - it worked on some sections, but still left the blue goo on some areas. These smell weird, like that red stick glue everyone had in school (Pritt, I hated it). I'm going to try strips from some other brand. Any recs?
Repurchase: No.


This is my favourite foundation and it has been for years. I love it because it looks incredibly natural on the skin and gives a light-medium coverage. The shade is very yellow, but it still blends well in my skin tone. I'm on my third or fourth bottle.
Repurchase: Already did.

LIP SMACKER Coca Cola Cherry and Coca Cola Vanilla
I found these lying somewhere in the drawers as I must have completely forgotten about them probably due to them being unremarkable or just because of my general indifference to most lip balms. Cherry version smells just like the real stuff in the bottle, so that candy sour-sweet scent, while Vanilla smells close to the original Coca-Cola. The formula is creamy and moisturising, and I can't deny they're not good lip balms, but I barely used them because I always use Palmer's Swivel Stick or Labello Peach.
Repurchase: No.


Average. That's the best way to describe this shampoo. It foams marvellously and it smells great as well, but it's not moisturising, in fact, it stripped my hair a bit, but not dramatically. It's a nice shampoo for those whose hair isn't particularly dry and it might even work for those with oily hair, but I can't be sure. I just really loved the bubble gum smell.
Repurchase: I don't know, maybe.

I often raved about this in the past and it was in my top 5 favourite drugstore hair treatments post. I have very dry, thick hair that demands a lot of moisture and quality products, and this just delivers. The bubble gums scent is a huge plus as is the packaging. I'm happy that they finally started selling these in Slovenia, so I don't have to keep ordering online.
Repurchase: Yes.

(old packaging)
You may know that I'm a huge fan of Kérastase, especially of their Nutritive line which just suits my dry, coarse hair like nothing I've ever tried. Nectar Thermique is my favourite heat protectant because I really notice the difference on my dry hair. It feels more nourished and even silky after blow-drying. When my hair feels especially dry (usually it's in winter), I apply this more generously than usual and it fixes the problem. This is the old packaging and I must say that getting the last bits out was a chore, but I already have a new one, which is in a soft squeeze tube.
Repurchase: I've already got a new one.


I think it's safe to call this my HG and to this day it remains to be the only stick deodorant that I've repurchased (several times now). Every deodorant so far stopped working on me before I used it up, but this one is really doing its job. It keeps me fresh, but keep in mind I don't sweat a lot, the most important thing is that it keeps BO at bay. This with Nivea Pearl & Beauty one are my power combination.
Repurchase: Yes.

I really, really like this deodorant. It smells so lovely - powdery floral and just very feminine. It's far better than any of those Balea deodorants, which are just fragrance because this one has powder in it that absorbs moisture to a certain degree.
Repurchase: Yes.

I enjoyed this a lot. It looks like a cheap scented shower gel, but it actually lathers well and feels expensive. It has the same scent as the fragrance, which sort of reminds me of a vanilla version of Chanel N°5 as I find it has the same soapiness in it, probably from the jasmine note.
Repurchase: Maybe.


When I got this scent, it wasn't like I expected it to be. It's not a Rafaello type of coconut scent, but less sweet and has that touch of artificialness especially from the start. Otherwise it's a lovely coconut scent, in fact the closest to the real thing I found. It has a nice staying power and it's very inexpensive. I liked it especially for mixing with other fragrance to add a coconut note to the scent (vanilla-coconut-amber was a particularly nice combination). I've had this bottle for a really long time, too long in fact and the liquid turned grey, which was my cue to just use it up already.
Repurchase: Maybe.

Loved this. It's one of my favourite scents ever and one of those that could be worn on any occasion. I get a nice burst of peach from the start and then it settles into a nice clean-but-sophisticated/ fabric softener kind of scent. I purchased the La Rive Moon dupe of the same fragrance and it smells pretty much the same.  
Repurchase: Yes.


I will probably always have a bottle of this in my collection, you just cannot ever really let of the scent that was for a time "a signature scent". It's a scent for sweet tooths with a combination of kiwi and lychee notes over an even more gourmand vanilla with white chocolate base. It's the definition of űber girly and yet when someone wearing this walks by me, I can't help myself thinking: ''Man, does she smell great.'' Great fragrance and you can get it for a very reasonable price online.
Repurchase: Yes. I already ordered The Nice Remix version, which is very similar. 

Have a great day!

Aussie Miracle Hair Insurance Lightweight Conditioning Spray


I bought this so long ago and I gave it a fair shot, but things aren't going well between us. I'm a fan of the 3 Minute Miracle Reconstructor Deep, not so much of the Miracle Moist shampoo, though it's not a complete miss, but I feel that this leave-in just isn't cutting it. In fact the only thing saving it, is the fantastic bubblegum scent which is identical as at the other two before mentioned products.


Here is why I'm just not impressed by it - it just doesn't really do anything. It was designed with weak, distressed hair in mind and promises to protect against damage and to detangle, so Aussie isn't outrageously bold in their claims, but I still wish it performed better.

I've tried it on dry and damp hair, tested it on my as well as on other people's hair and it's just blah. On damp hair it's doesn't really inject any additional moisture nor does it have any frizz control. It's also not a heat protectant, so spraying it on the hair before drying it, just doesn't do much of anything apart from making it smell nice and even that doesn't last particularly long. Maybe it makes the hair easier to comb, but the brush usually just glides through my hair after washing, so I can't asses that function of it. As far as protecting against damage is concerned, I haven't noticed my hair getting any stronger and the hair still breaks at the "usual level".  But it's the effect on dry hair that I have a real issue with it. Again I feel not much moisture is added to the hair, it just dampens the hair, which wouldn't be a bad thing as I'd still use it like I do many other leave-ins - to make my hair a bit damp before putting it in a high bun so I have nice waves in the morning. However, it does make my hair noticeable laden with product. It's not sticky or anything, but kind of heavy or even a bit dirty feeling and I feel like I need to wash my hair soon. This only happens when used on dry hair, while on damp hair I can spray it very liberally, however, it's not as lightweight as it claims to be.  


I'm really not impressed by this leave-in. It smells fantastic, but that's it. My HG still remains the phenomenal Sexy Healthy Hair Soy Tri-Wheat Leave in Conditioner (could it possibly have an even longer name?) without which I just can't imagine being even for a single wash. 

I got this leave-in in a Croatian DM and I haven't seen it in our Műllers. It was 5-6 €.

Have a great day!

Forever Repurchased #3


I'm fickle with my conditioner choices, I admit, but it's because my hair is so dry and thick, also pretty much never soft because of the coarse texture that rare conditioners, especially from the drugstore, get my seal of approval and Aussie's 3 Minute Miracle is at the very top of the "best of drugstore" list. It has a similar effect as much more expensive products, it nourishes my hair well and even manages to make it somewhat silky. The bubble gum scent it has is addictive and I've purchased several other product from their line just for the smell, though those, unlike this one, fell short of leaving me with a lasting impression.


I can be very loyal to a product I like, but rare gained my loyalty so long ago. I've been repurchasing this shower oil since before iPhone and Windows Vista made their first appearance and during this time I think I've never been without a bottle of it. This is my luxurious, pampering product that I use on special occasions. As the name suggests, it's an oil, which then transforms into this thick, rich foam with an almost a lotion texture that is intensely moisturising. I never need to use a moisturiser afterwards, though the accompanying oil as well as the cream from the same line prolong the staying power of the gorgeous scent. It is the scent that is exquisite as well, I can't really describe it otherwise as luxuriously sweet, but I haven't met a person that would dislike it yet. By the way, I buy eco-refills.


Another product that I've been loyal to since my teens and I've repurchased numerous times. When I first started properly researching what I'm putting on my face, Neutrogena's mask was all the rage and came heavily recommended by average consumers. I remember when I first used it, I was astonished at how healthy a 10-minute session made my skin look. It's just a simple clay mask with salicylic acid, but one that is not drying and comes in a huge tube for a pretty decent price. It can also be used as a cleanser, but I'm not too fond of using it that way.
How long have I been raving about this foundation? Sometime since I started blogging I believe. It's a wonderful foundation that genuinely looks like skin, feels weightless and is immediately dry to the touch (meaning it sets fast). The finish is has is a dewy, healthy one and the foundation offers light to medium coverage, which is just the right amount for my taste. The only problem is the shade range with prevailing strong yellow undertones (I'm neutral, so I mix it with a pink toned foundation), but all in all the formula is pretty fab. 

Have a great day!