CATRICE Absolute Nude Eyeshadow Palette
010 All Nude
This was the first such palette by Catrice and it has been out for quite a while, however, I was never really interested in it, until I saw that there is going to be a new chocolate version, which made me think of this one and the Rose one, so I just wanted to give them a try. Nude version contains a collection of neutral eyeshadows, ranging from light to dark in different hues and all are shimmery, but I love especially the medium shades, as they are great one-wash colours. I'm very pleased with this palette and I've really been enjoying wearing it since I got it; I've been wearing it more than the Rose version, because it suits my colouring better. I'll have swatches of both palettes in a proper review.
Müller, 5.29 €
CATRICE Absolute Rose Eyeshadow Palette
010 Frankie Rose to Hollywood
A palette that clearly drew inspiration from the massively popular UD Naked 3 palette, so it has a collection of six rosy, taupe and purple shades. I'm a huge fan of the Absolute Matt version, which inspired in me a lot of trust into these palettes by Catrice, but the day I bought it, someone told me that this is a terrible palette quality-wise, so I was concerned before I actually tried it that I made a huge miss buy. Well, it's a great palette. In respect to quality I really like it, especially that matte taupe shade is fantastic. However, two pairs of eyeshadows look almost identical on the lids, so it's not the most diverse palette in the world. But otherwise, I'm happy I got this.
Müller, 5.29 €
L'OREAL Infallible 24H Matte Foundation
10 Porcelain
There is a huge hype surrounding this foundation and I had my doubts whether it's really as amazing as everyone is claiming to be. Well, it is. I adore this foundation. This looks absolutely flawless over pores. I've never tried anything like it, not even a primer. In the past year almost every foundation started to emphasize my pores for some reason, but this kind of just camouflages them. It's so amazing to see how the pores look so diminished with this foundation, I'm a huge fan. Otherwise it's a medium coverage foundation with a matte finish, so it is an obvious foundation, but I don't mean that in a bad way, just that the matte finish and coverage makes it apparent you're wearing makeup. This will look weird over patches, just to warn you. I got the lightest shade 10 Porcelain which is not exactly porcelain-like, but it's similar to Healthy Mix Serum's 51 only it has a pink undertone. There will be a proper review of this.
Salma, 10.90 €
ESSENCE Lash Mania False Lash Mascara Waterproof
I love my Lancome Hypnose mascara, but it's very expensive, so I wear it only when I want to be a bit more made up, while the rest of the time I wear either Essence Princess Lash, which is unfortunately not waterproof but I love the effect, or Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde waterproof, which I'm not terribly fond of because it's very average. I decided to get a new cheap waterproof mascara, though I'd really love to get my hands on Maybelline's Lash Sensational in waterproof, but for now Essence's will suffice. I found this one on their website, checked online for reviews (which were all in German) and they reassured me it's worth a try. I've quickly became a fan of the formula. The brush is plastic and huge, so it's clumsy and it deposits tons of product with one coat, just like Princess Lash and I <3 Extremes. This means that definition isn't its forte from the start, but it gets better and better as the formula thickness over time. The amount of volume it gives is huge, it hold curls amazingly well for such a cheap mascara and it's very difficult to remove. I'll post a proper review very soon, as this is in the process of being discontinued.
Müller, 3.29 €
ESSENCE Lash & Brow Gel Mascara
This is very popular and highly rated on Makeup Alley, however, I won't be using it for its original purpose (I don't care about brows at all). You might remember that I spoke about John Frieda Full Repair Touch-Up Flyaway Tamer, which has been on my wishlist for ages, but it's out of stock on Boots International for a really long time, and while Ojon's Tamer Wand is only a bit more expensive, I am very reluctant to shell out 16 € for such a product plus the extortion that they call shipping (and the pound to euro rate has been abysmal in the past six months. Thank you economy!). So I had a brain wave to try this for that purpose. It's a gel with hold, which is quite possibly very similar to the JF or Ojon's formula. I can report that it works well enough, but it's not as good as the real deal. It also still leaves the hair soft and none of the gel residue is apparent. It's good for now, but I still want the John Frieda or at least the Ojon one.
Műller, 2.19 €
ESSENCE Lipliner
12 Wish Me a Rose
You know how I often say that I don't like these? Well I have seven of them already. I have no words for myself *queue the meme "I'm not even mad that's amazing"*. Wish me a Rose was an Andrea's enabled purchase because she swatched Mac's Please me and Wish me a Rose side by side, and they are indeed very, very similar. Even I'd call them a dupe and I'm very strict with that word. It's a light-medium neutral pink that I think would suit so many people, either as a nice neutral shade like on me or a pinky nude on people with medium skin tones.
DM, 1.19 €
BOURJOIS La Laque
7 Lycheers
Bourjois released their version of gel inspired formula and I think everyone saw that happening from a mile away. Their selection of shades is pretty basic and cute, but Lycheers grabbed my attention because I have nothing similar and I find it quite unique. When I came home I noticed how similar it is to my beloved Rouge Edition Velvet in 07 Nude-ist - no wonder I liked it straight away. It's a retro rose shade - a dirty medium pink that will fit perfectly into autumn.
Müller, 7.19 €
ESSENCE Studio Nails 4 in 1 Profi File
I've been buying these for years. They are cheap and they do the job. There are four different textures ranging from a very harsh surface to a buffing smooth one.
Müller, 1.59 €
Salma had it for a reasonable price with a discount, so I just got a backup and even so, my bottle is running very low anyway. I love this hair oil and I haven't been without a bottle of it for years. I find it one of the best on the market for dry hair as it doesn't just behave like a regular smoothing serum, but it also adds a bit of extra nourishment that my hair desperately needs. I'm also still in love with the gorgeous oriental scent it has.
I've reviewed a lot of more expensive hair oils a while ago in my Hair Oil Series if you're interested.
Salma, 15.90 €
BALEA Luxury Verwőhndusche
Red Love
Indulging Shower Gel
I was so excited about this range ever since I saw it on Facebook, mainly because it said it smells like peach and coconut. I already had the bath salt, which was lovely (it turned the water into an intense red-pink shade. I'll post pictures one day) and I was delighted when I saw that the shower gel arrived on our shelves as well. It's a very thick shower gel that is deep red with shimmer, so it looks very glamorous. It's very different from their regular shower gels and it's closer to Dove's formula, though it's even thicker and doesn't foam as well as those. The scent is the same as of bath salt, so peachy, but with a deeper, more sexy/sultry note, which actually makes it better suited for colder months than summer.
Ingredients here.
DM, 1.79 €
SUN DANCE Transparentes Sonnenspray 50
Transparent Sunscreen SPF 50
Last year I got the transparent sunscreen in a can, which ended up being a huge oily, schnapps-reeking disaster that lasted three days in total for four people. This year I got one in a classic spray pump, but again a transparent one as the regular sunscreens are just too greasy, which puts me off applying them all together. This one has tons of alcohol in it, but I don't care as I'm only planning to use it for those few days on the beach, also because at least I'll use it because it's light enough on the skin, though still a bit oily, and finally because the Garnier transparent one, which is without alcohol is over 10 € and is just too much (I mean seriously?!). It smells like classic sunscreen and I don't smell alcohol in it, but others do. The spray pump is very hard to press, which is very annoying
DM, 5.79 €
SUN DANCE Selbst Bräunungs Tonik
Self-tanning Toner
This immediately caught my attention on their website, I mean a self-tanning toner in the drugstore is not something you see often. It is like a regular toner, so not like Clarins' one which feels like a lotion, instead this is like an actual water-like toner that would work even for greasy skin. It sinks in really fast, leaves the skin dry to the touch and doesn't feels sticky, so thumbs up for that. It has a warm vanilla scent that is ok as well. It says to exfoliate the skin first, which I do before the first application as I always do before tanning, then simply apply the toner with a cotton pad all over the face including ears and neck for an even effect. It says the colour should develop in 2-6 hours, but that is very optimistic. On my super pale skin it takes four days for me to I get a nice amount of colour and that's a good thing, because gradual tanning provides a lot more natural results and decreases the chance of streaks. It doesn't smell much of self-tanner, though the more days in a row you use it, the more you might notice it. I heard though that some people with sensitive skin find this product a bit irritating, but it works completely fine on my skin.
Here is a side by side of me before tanning and after four days. The lipstick is Max Factor's Redefined Rose.
Ingredients here.
DM, 3.49 €
NIVEA Pearl & Beauty Anti-Perspirant
My old faithful. My last bottle was sent to me by Nivea when they saw I couldn't find it in Interspar (such a kind gesture), but now I got mine in DM. I love this deodorant because it actually works for a spray deodorant as it has powder particles in it, but it's not super white, though I still need to be careful with black clothes. It also smells fantastic, soft and so lady-like.
DM, 2.89 €
OMBIA COSMETICS Express Nagellackentferner
Express nail polish remover
This reminds me a lot of the Ebeline version, meaning it's a basic nail polish remover in a pot, except that the foam inside hasn't got a round hole, but it's just cut in a form of a cross. It removes nail polish well enough, though not as easily as for example the Bourjois' one and it doesn't leave the fingers greasy, however, just like Ebeline's one, this means that it can dry out your nails and skin. The foam is harsher and feels of a lesser quality than both Ebeline's and Bourjois'. It has a sweet scent, possibly of almonds. I like it for the price, but it's nothing special.
Hofer, about 1.8 €
ESSENCE Arriba! TE Hair Chalk
02 Macarena Mint
I dreamt of having this ever since Ana from Beautysaur showed how well this works on her dark hair. It's a very silly thing to purchase, but you know it's also very fun. There were two versions, a pink and a green/teal one, and I grabbed the last one on the stand. This has an amazing colour payoff, especially if you use it on slightly damp hair or like I did it, over a sticky hair spray. With the sticky hair spray base, it lasted all day without fading and it didn't rub off on anything. I'm pleasantly surprised by this and I kind of a want my whole head in this colour. This was a LE, so it's quite possibly gone from most places, but Essence has four colours of hair chalk in their permanent line, though they are in the process of being discontinued. They have a colour just like it, so if you want it, you need to hurry.
Müller, 4.39 €
ESSENCE #secret party TE Drink Markers
01 Don't Drink and Dive
This is another silly purchase, but we always end up fighting whose glass was which, so this was a purchase to end all glass related disputes. I'll also put one in my bag as it should certainly come in handy. I don't know where you can get anything similar other than on eBay (I want the moustache ones)
Müller, 2.19 €
ESSENCE Nauti Girl Nail Stickers
01 Hey Sailor
I really liked the Nauty Girl collection. You might have noticed that I largely ignore TE's and LE's (I just genuinely dislike the idea of limited items), but this summer Essence did an excellent job. The sailor inspired nail stickers are super cute and will surely pair them up with a navy blue nail polish. Similar designs here.
ESSENCE Nauti Girl Cosmetic Bag
01 Anchors Aweigh
My cousin got this for me, so thank you. It a nice medium size bag with a zipper that is very basic, but I'll surely replace my mint green one with this one in these summer months. Such a cute design, right?
LANCOME O d´Azur edt
Sample
I am a very shallow person, I'm sure you've noticed by now, so I actually got this sample purely because I love the bottle of the full size parfume. Yeah, so you've learned something about my priorities, but I just love perfume bottles as decoration (this was the main reason I got Katy Perry's Royal Revolution). Anyway it's a nice summery fragrance that smells high-end and I like it, but I'm not completely I-must-have-it-right-now in love with it. It's fresh, floral, aquatic and a bit sharp from the pepper. This a scent I image someone wearing in the office, but the staying power is weak.
Notes on Fragrantica.
Salma, 0.77 €
LOLITA LEMPICKA Elle L'aime edp
Sample
This has been on my radar for quite a while because I loved the notes according to Fragrantica, then I forgot about it, later Živa wrote about it and rekindled my interest. I couldn't find it in our drugstores (not surprised), but they do have it on Salma and they have samples (yay!). Živa was spot on with her description, it is reminiscent of the über popular Bronze Goddess, but with a slight citrus twist. It's beachy, coconuty with neroli and jasmine plus some lime that keeps it from being too cloying. I'm a huge, huge fan, however, staying power is very weak.
Salma, 0.73 €
RIHANNA Nude edp
Sample
I tried this in Müller once and I liked it, but I wanted a proper sample before deciding if it's the scent for me. It's tropical and sweet, but not in an Escada way, instead it's a deeper scent. I can definitely smell guava, which I normally don't like in fragrances, but I guess that combination with a pear note makes is more likeable to me. I swear I can smell vanilla in it, but there is none, so I guess the combination of other notes makes it so sweet and gourmand like. I'm not sold by it or maybe it just doesn't appeal to me in this heat as it's not exactly light. It's lovely, but I won't be buying a full size, I think.
Notes on Fragrantica.
Salma, 0.63 €
DOLCE & GABBANA The One Desire edp
Sample
I got this as a gift with purchase on Salma. I'm not impressed by the original The One and this one isn't my favourite either. It's sweet with predominant notes of caramel and vanilla, but that lychee note from the start is so odd, almost like it's too sour or even rotten. It later disappears, but I don't like how this is working with my chemistry. In general it's a very generic and forgettable scent to me.
Notes on Fragrantica.
*PA DOLLY LOVE False Eyelashes HS-37
Born Pretty Store offered me to try some more of their false lashes after I posted a review of their Pa Dolly Love HS-43. HS-37 are much, much more dramatic as they are not only longer, but also thicker. I chose these because they have more of a rounded design, instead of tapered and I've never tried lashes like that, so I want to see what effect these have on my eyes. These again come in a box of ten and are on clear a string.
Born Pretty, 3.99 $ (my discount code for 10 % off is MKOH10).
*PA DOLLY LOVE False Eyelashes HS-37
Born Pretty Store offered me to try some more of their false lashes after I posted a review of their Pa Dolly Love HS-43. HS-37 are much, much more dramatic as they are not only longer, but also thicker. I chose these because they have more of a rounded design, instead of tapered and I've never tried lashes like that, so I want to see what effect these have on my eyes. These again come in a box of ten and are on clear a string.
Born Pretty, 3.99 $ (my discount code for 10 % off is MKOH10).
Have a great day!
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