Showing posts with label artdeco. Show all posts
Showing posts with label artdeco. Show all posts

Disappointing Products


Though I must say I sail the beauty products waters quite successfully and rarely purchase a product that performs poorly, I still have a few laying around. I'm a type person that extensively researches almost every product I buy and I rarely buy something impulsively, yet actually a lot of these product were bought either based on previous good experience with a similar product from the same brand or they just grabbed my attention and I bought them on the spot. To avoid making this post too negative, I'll put a link to a favourable review of each product, so you can more critically assess whether the product might still work for you.


How gorgeous is this to look at, am I right? This is without a doubt my favourite collection of colours in a palette out of the ones I own (which aren't that many to be honest) and I am gutted it turned out to be such a dud product. The pigmentation of this is so poor, especially of the prettiest matte shades. Those shimmery shades don't perform much better, they do show up, but they all look the same on the lids when blended. This palette completely turned me off cheap "dupe" palettes. I'd rather pay more for a high end one and have eyeshadows that are of actual good quality. I don't care if this was only 6 €, it was still precious pennies wasted on a rubbish product.
Positive review: Bean's Beauty Blog


I was sent this, but that doesn't inspire mercy from me. At the end of the day I'm still left with a liner that isn't performing the way it should and I hate having such products taking up my space in my makeup collection. The formula of this is simply too dry, so a nice even line is hard to do as mostly it turns out to be a diffused and soft type of line, the same I can achieve with an eyeshadow. Gel eyeliners should be fluid enough and not almost dried up when new.
Positive review: Temporary Secretary

I got not one, but two completely dry ones, which can only mean I have either the worst luck in the world (believable) or this is just a rubbish formula. I couldn't even do a proper review with pictures of this on the eyes because I couldn't even do a line. I think that the swatch picture says everything there is to know about this liner and I'm still pissed I paid 10 € for it.
Positive review: Meteo Beauty 

This liner is infuriating. The worst flip flopper I owned. If you've read my review, I've seen the problem with it - the formula is simply drying too fast for a decent application. Most of the time I get barely anything out of it and then on rare occasions it works almost perfectly. It was very expensive, so despite its occasional good behaviour, it deserves a place in this post.
Positive review: Anaviglam


For a time this was the only such product available in Slovenia, but now I've seen a few new interesting ones. When this first came out, I've heard some great reviews about it, later also a few bad ones and my experience falls into the latter group. It's a strange product that on my hair either does nothing when used in moderation and when I increase the amount, I get a very sticky, my-hair-hasn't-been-washed-in-ages result that doesn't terribly please me. This is like a very weak, sticky hair spray that just doesn't work for my hair. I much prefer the VO5's one as well as the Charles Worthington's.
Positive review: Katie's Beauty Blog.

When I discovered that my favourite hairspray apparently isn't sold in Slovenia any more, I decided to give this one a try because I love the mousse and the styling spray from this line. I hated this from the first spray. I was so spoiled from the Lee Stafford one, which feels like nothing on the hair that having a sticky, wet residue after application was a bit of a shock to me. It also didn't perform in the hold department, certainly not on the level of Lee Stafford's one. For me this felt just too noticeable on the hair and technology has come far enough to leave such 90's feeling hairsprays in the past. 
Positive review: Chérie 

I got this because I wanted something that would hold my natural/heatless curls that I love so much, but they drop within a half an hour (such a shame). It didn't perform as I expected. This has a very high rating on Makeup Alley and people said this holds like nobody's business. Apparently just not on my hair. I saw no difference in terms of hold between Lee Stafford's one, however, this is very sticky as well as heavy. I don't like noticeable hair sprays, so this isn't for me. That being said, when I do hair on other people, they almost always request this hair spray because they like to feel that there is something on the hair, I guess they are so used to the idea that the hairspray must be sticky to hold. I used this on a girl with very thin hair when I curled her hair for a special occasion and she said her hair drops really fast - as far as I'm concerned this hairspray  didn't perform all that well because she came home with her hair almost flat.
Positive Review: I Covet Thee


This was one of the biggest hair disappointment for me. Glowing reviews convinced me to shell out for a 75 ml size that I knew won't last many uses on my long hair. It's a pre-wash treatment that you apply either for 20 minutes or overnight on slightly damp hair. This didn't pretty much nothing, certainly nothing comparable to other expensive hair treatments like Masquintense or Intense Hydrator. Money down the drain this was, nothing else. 
Positive review: Amelia Liana 

Another product I got based on highly praising reviews on Makeup Alley and one I disliked from the first use. My hair is very dry, especially in the days after washing, so I had hoped this would be a nice silicone-free nourishing leave-in to fix my hair. This is such an odd product, it's like applying a face moisturiser on the hair and it leaves these white dust-like dots on the hair, which is not attractive when you have dark hair like mine. But the greatest disappointment was the fact that it didn't even work. I noticed no significant nourishment, certainly nothing comparable to Orofluido Sahara, which is one of the best quick-fix products to treat dryness that I found. 
Positive review: Makeup and more


ARGAN OIL Hydrating Hair Mask
This is utter, total crap. By far the worst product in this selection. It ruined my hair by making it look and feel like straw, people genuinely couldn't believe that a masks could do this when they touched my hair. I saw this whilst exploring the never ending treasure that is Leclerc's beauty department. It caught my eye because it's very cheap and the ingredients looked decent (argan oil on 7th place plus even a bit of keratin). Though it's a thick mask, it has zero moisturising properties, my hair felt awful when I was rinsing it off and I couldn't even run my fingers through my hair when it was dry, that's how tangly it was. Horrible, horrible stuff. If you see this in Leclerc, just ignore it. 
I can't find a positive review about this and I'm not surprised.


Yeah.. this is basically liquid. You know when a shower gel or liquid soap is running out and you can't get the last bit out, so you pour water in the bottle to get it out. Well, this is like it. A diluted soap. It's impossible to wash with or least make foam without a mesh sponge. It smells nice, but that's it. 
Positive review: Parokeets


BALEA Fantastique 5-Klingen Rasierer
I bought a female razor after possibly 7 years or more. I used to have a Venus one, but I completely switched to male razors because if it's good for someone's face, it's good enough for me. Sweet lord are female razors rubbish compared to male ones! What's with the annoying, bulky strips that prevent you from reaching places. They make it so clumsy. I already have a good shaving gel and an oil, why do I need a moisturising strip as well? Also I think it kind of broke after first use because it bent 90°degrees and stayed like that. Odd little thing. In all years of shaving, I don't recall many occasions when I cut myself, but with this one, I was shocked to see bloody shins when I came out of the shower. And I don't mean on one single occasion, I mean every time I used it. Once I had four cuts on one leg alone. I'm sticking to my Gillette Fusion Proglide. Yes, the replacement blades are so expensive, but the razor does its job the way it's supposed to, plus it has an additional blade in the back. Male razors rule, people. Just saying.
Positive review: Julia's Beauty Blog 

Any big disappointments you encountered recently? Have a great day!

Artdeco High Precision Liquid Liner


This is the most perplexing liner I've ever had. I write reviews in advance and I've had one version of this starting with: "I hate this." It has been such a struggle because for quite a while it didn't work at all and even now it doesn't work the way it should, or at least the way the tester in the shop indicated. Someone told me this is their favourite liner, so I'm thinking I might have got a faulty one because it's just not possible that the product in the shop performed so differently. 


The formula has a fatal flaw - it dries too fast. This means that though you are able to do a nice line within seconds after you open it, when you get to the flick, it's already too dry. Drying time also affects the ability to fix the line. If you go over the line again to fill in the gaps or make it more even, the liner just flakes off where the applicator touches it. This results in a patchy, uneven application and no chance to do a flick. The formula also dries too fast on the nib, so it prevents the formula to saturate the nib quickly enough because what's on the applicator dries in contact with air, which appears to create a barrier for a fresh pack of formula. The more I shake it, the less I think is actually on there. You can do a line when you open the lid and the formula is still fresh, however, the line must be perfect and done quickly. Now either I'm an idiot and I did something wrong from the start and that's why it's not working the way it should or maybe mine just faulty. But for this price I expect it to work flawlessly, so better than L'Oreal's, which is still functional enough after more than half a year. 


I tried everything, I even left it for a week so that maybe the nib would get saturated again and it did, but again I wasn't able to do a perfect line. By the way I store all my liners upside down. It looks fine on the swatch because it did the line when the formula was fresh and I drew with the base of the nib.


I'm not going to say that what I got on the pictures was the best application I ever got with this liner, but this is better than it averagely performed overall, especially from the start when it did nothing. Of course, I got a decent line a couple of times, but I had no intention doing the pictures a thousand times. As you can see it worked relatively decently on the first eye, but by the second it was already too dry to complete the line. And that's not how such an expensive liner should perform in the first month of use.


The shape of the nib is perfect and it's pretty much identical to the one from Kardashian Beauty (mine is completely frayed). In fact this liner is remarkably similar to that one is almost every respect, apart from the formula. This would be the perfect liner if the formula worked the way it should.

I heard people say that this liner is great. If any of you has tried this liner, could you please tell me if I'm doing something wrong. But even so, it's a liner. It shouldn't be rocket science for me to be able to use it. The tester in the shop was so promising, so I'm devastated that after paying 17 € my liner never worked properly and I was never able to do a nice crisp line with a flick. This eyeliner was way to expensive to perform so irregularly. I'll be even more angry if I got a faulty one, but I'm not going to repurchase it to find out. I could get five Essence eyeliners for that money and at least those would last me more than five months, or I could try that Stila one everyone is raving about. I don't want to discourage you if you want to try it because the formula in the shop seemed perfect, but I won't be trying my luck again. I've been burned twice just this year, once by L'Oreal's and now by this one, which essentially means that I threw away 27 €, which makes me very, very angry.

It was 16.99 € in Müller.


Edit 22. July 2015: I don't know what exactly happened, must be some sort of a miracle worthy of attention of the Vatican, but one day the liner just started working. And perfectly, might I add. The entire applicator was very saturated with product and I could do even the smallest fixes. Now the tip is already a bit dry, but it's still performing much better than when I first got it. Regardless, I resent its initial problems because when I buy a liner, I want it to work, especially if it's as expensive as this one. 

Have a great day!

New in #28


BOURJOIS Rouge Edition Velvet 
07 Nude-ist
I've treated myself to another Velvet, bringing the total number to four in my collection. My enthusiasm for these matte lip creams persist and Nude-ist is my latest obsession. When these first came out, Nude-ist was the shade I instantly brushed off as not being my type of shade and granted swatched on the back of the hand it doesn't look like much, but on the lips is where the magic happens. It's a beautiful natural-rosy shade. Actually it's exactly the natural tone of my lips, however, a shade or two darker, making it look quite natural on my lips, but just giving that definition to my pale face. This is definitely a winner. There will a review with full face swatches, but I already posted a quick sneak peek on my Instagram
Müller, 12.99 €.

ESSENCE Lip Liner 
06 Satin Mauve 
Since in the last months there has been a torrent of the 90's lip trend posts in the beauty community, I caved under peer pressure and decided to at least test it out if it suits me.  As much as I dislike the too soft texture of Essence lip liners, Satin Mauve is the shade I've heard quite a few people mentioning as their favourite at the moment, so at that price I just gave it a shot. I'm genuinely not a fan of this look 90's look on me at all. Like most such shades, mauvy-natural types, the violet tone is again more pronounced against my skin tone giving me that drained, tired look. You'll see it in the full review, but this is not my favourite shade. I much prefer Nude-ist, which brings some life to my face because it's a warm, rosy shade. I still don't like the formula of these, the pencils are just too soft for creating a defined look, but at least they aren't drying, though they don't last long on the lips. There is a swatch of this on Instagram as well.
Müller, 1.19 €.


 *L'OREAL False Lash Wings Intenza
L'Oreal released a new mascara, a spin-off to their original False Lash Wings (Butterfly or Flutter mascara in some countries) and this version has the "butterfly wing shape" on both sides of the wand. Mine is a regular formula, but I think a waterproof version exists as well. I have to say I quite like it. It reminds me of their Million Lashes that I used for years and it gives a similar effect. It gives a lot of length and definition, but not that much volume despite the fibres, which I can't even see. Volume is not my priority anyway, but I really appreciate the defined look it gives to my lashes and how every individual lash is coated with mascara. You can see it in action here.
Price 15.49 € in drugstores (their mascaras are getting more and more expensive).


ARTDECO High Precision Liquid Liner
01
*a sigh of relief* Finally, I have a decent eyeliner again. It felt like ages, I tell you. This reminds me a lot of the Kardashian one. The nib is very similar in terms of the shape and the material it's made of, which is not the same felt tip as at L'Oreal's, but more like a very smooth brush. The shape of the nib is great, it's the right size and shape for my preferences. I'll report back in a month or so in a full review because I'd like to see how fast it's drying out. But I have to say that it is quite an expensive liner and it will really need to perform spectacularly for me to keep buying it.
Müller, 16.99 €.


*MODELS OWN HyperGel Gel Effect Polish
Midsummer Mauve
When I first saw this nail polish, I squealed from excitement because the colour is just something I was thinking of getting soon. I'm in the mood for these greyish-taupe-light violet nail colours at the moment because they look so chic on the nails. This looks gorgeous swatched on the nail wheel, but again my skin tone makes it more purple, which bothers me a bit, but I like it nonetheless (most likely this won't happen to any of you anyway). The formula is one of those new age "faking gel manicure" type and it's quite thick, but it still evens out nicely with a second coat, plus it has a high shine finish.
Tega odtenka sicer še ni na Click2Chic, ampak naj bi bil v prihodnosti. Ostali odtenki stanejo 5,95 €.
Models Own, £4.99. 


 *MODELS OWN Gel Eyeliner
I'm sorry but I can't bring myself to like this. Since I discovered that felt tip liners got a billion times better since the 00's, other versions of eyeliners don't appeal to me any-more, but that's not the main reason I'm not a fan of this. It's because the texture is so dry. Why did they make it so dry? The lack of fluidity means it's harder to do a nice, crisp line. Actually so far I've only been able to do more of a smudgy line, you know the one with the diffused edge that you usually create with an eyeshadow, which is a nice look as well because it looks more soft and natural, but I'm kind of a fan of sharp lines. The added brush is not my favourite either, sorry.
To je še en bodoči izdelek, ki naj bi se prodajal na Click2Chic. Sama bi veliko raje izbrala Kardashian Beauty eyeliner. 
Models Own, £4.99.


 *NANSHY Marvel Makeup Sponge
Can we just enjoy for a moment at how beautiful this sponge looks? I love mint green. I've only had one makeup sponge so far and it was from Cosmopolitan, which disappointed me when it tore after the first wash. This one already proved be better quality, since it's still whole, even though I've been using it for about two-three weeks and I wash it after every foundation application. I'll just put it out there and say that unlike a lot of people in the beauty community, these sponges aren't my favourite method of applying foundation because I can get the same result on my skin with a brush and it's a lot faster. But I get the appeal, these sponges do blend the foundation in very well. One thing that struck me when I first dampened the sponge is how big it is compared to Cosmopolitan's one, but it's similarly soft and has the same texture. One giant plus is that this sponge has a cut top, which is super, super handy for blending concealer under the eyes. But it again absorbs too much foundation for my liking (I don't like to waste things) and it takes a lot of time to blend the foundation into the skin, but that's my problem with all sponges anyway. As far as sponges go, this is a nice one.
Click2Chic, 7,49 € ; Official Nanshy site,  €8.28.


 *BOCASSY Paris Serum
When I was offered to try their products, Bocassy was a completely new brand to me. I quickly checked the reviews and the serum's ingredients caught my attention, so I agreed to give it a go. It was the mention of vitamin A that got me, though it also contains vitamin E, d-panthenol, olive oil, shea butter and comfrey root extract. I've been using it for a couple of weeks now plus the L'Occitane cleansing oil I'll mention later and my skin just looks so healthy. I've been quite unhappy with how my skin texture looked recently, which made my foundation look weird, but now there have been quite a few occasion when I felt like I don't even need anything other than a bit of concealer under my eyes, around the nose and on one blemish scar on my chin that persist for years. I've just been using a bit of concealer well blended in and that's it. Also when I do decide to wear foundation, it applies so much nicer, even that horrid Rimmel one. I have no idea whether it's this serum or the oil or perhaps a combo of both, but I'm very happy with my skin at the moment. I'll do a full review after a while, but if you have any questions now, just ask.
Ingredients here.
Na voljo v poslovalnicah Müller BTC, Rudnik, Čopova, Koper, Celje in Maribor Europark. Cena približno 23 € (spet predvidevam). Bocassy Slovenija Facebook stran tukaj.
In Croatia it's also sold in DM's. Serum costs 180 kn. Bocassy Hrvatska Facebook page here

 *L'OCCITANE Immortelle Oil Make-up Remover
After the Shea Butter cleansing oil (review by Passing Fancy here), L'Occitane added another one to their more premium Immortelle range. I've had a few oils so far, which for some reason all broke me out a bit after an extended use, but this doesn't appear to be the case with this one. It's a light oil that is very similar in terms of texture to the Body Shop one or L'Oreal one, so they all emulsify a bit when water is added, but I find that this one rinses off more effectively than those two. In terms of makeup removing capabilities, this removes everything in one go, even my super stubborn Hypnose Waterproof mascara, however, it takes quite a long massaging between the lashes to completely dissolve the mascara (but not when you're removing a regular formula mascara). It's bad side is the same one as at all oily cleansers, super foggy eyesight after use, so I use it strictly before going to bed. It has the same scent as the rest of the Immortelle line, which is a wild flower scent. I like this oil a lot, it's the best such cleanser I've tried so far, but the foggy eyesight is a nuisance again (I'm probably the only one complaining).
L'Occitane, 22.40 €.


BALEA Rasier Gel
Summer Garden
A repurchase and I'm so happy these are still on the shelves. I think it's meant as a LE, so don't waste any time if you want it (let's face it everything from DM brands is a LE in the long run, lol. It's like the Essence of skin care). This is my favourite version of Balea's shaving gel ever. It's smells like candy in mango flavour. Yummy! And it's teal, one of my favourite colours, plus the quality is again excellent.
DM, 1.99 €.

BALEA Beauty Effect Power Maske
For the life of me I can't remember whose review I read about this being pretty awesome, but anyway it landed in my basket. It claims to intensely moisturise the skin, therefore making the wrinkles less noticeable. Though I have a couple wrinkles which my foundation always emphasizes tenfold, the main reason I got this was that it contains hyaluronic acid - the gold of the beauty world. If I glance through ingredients fast I see very moisturising ingredients (glycerine, shea butter, olive oil) and hyaluronic acid, which is granted more at the end of the list, but all in all it's a nice ingredient list for such a budget product. It's a thick, but easy to apply mask/moisturiser that smells nice, like baby cosmetics. You're supposed to apply and leave it on for 5-10 minutes, then remove the rest with a cotton pad. I've used it just once so far and I had nothing left to remove that's how thirsty my skin was. I think it's a great product for dry and dehydrated skin when it needs a bit of a boost of moisture or is suffering from dry patches, but it does nothing to the wrinkles (which I didn't expect anyway). I think it's a great budget version of for example Origins Drink Up Mask.
Ingredients here.
DM, 4-5 €.


 BALEA Balea Badewürfel Vanille Honig
Honey and Vanilla Bath Cube
I talked about this cube a long time ago, but I only recently found it in our DM's. I haven't used it yet and I'll keep this for those rare occasions I actually do a proper bath, so I'll have to report back in an empties post with more details. But I can say that it feels a bit greasy to the touch, so it's an oil based product, which means it's probably very moisturising. I smells a bit disappointingly like generic soap (you can smell it in the shop), but at least it doesn't cost an arm and a leg like the Lush ones.
DM 1-2 €.


 LITAMIN Welness Salze Goldrausch
Welness salt Goldrush
I think this is a bath salt that turns the water gold. I'm not sure because my German isn't what it used to be and they are being quite elusive with the description, but I sure hope it's true. I'll report back in an empties or maybe even in a proper post if it impresses me, but I am excited to try it.
Ingredients here.
Müller, 1.25 €.


DRESDNER ESSENZ Pflegebad Schokolade/Cranberry
Bath salt with a chocolate and cranberry scent
I saw on Sunnivah's blog that she likes the orange/cinnamon/clove version (Winterbad) of these bath salts, but when I saw the chocolate one next to it, it was all I could look at. I mean it's chocolate, I can't resist that, I'm only human. It has the scratch-and-sniff sticker in the top right corner, which indicates that this smells really nice, like a fruitier version of Nesquick cocoa. 
Ingredients here.
Müller, 1.29 €.

Have a great day!

*products marked with this symbol are PR samples.

(Mostly) Drugstore Concealers - Favourites and Really Good Ones


I've tried quite a few of concealers so far, drugstore and high-end, and I found some really good drugstore concealers that perform as well if not better than high-end ones. My main concern is redness under my eyes (I've always had it, even when I was a child), I don't suffer from much breakouts. I've already reviewed most of these concealers and you can find some reviews here ->click

Maybelline Instant Anti-Age the Eraser Eye Perfect & Cover Concealer
My absolute favourite concealer so far. I think it might be my HG concealer, it's just so good. It offers a lot of coverage, however, it looks very natural on the skin and not at all cakey. Mine is in the shade light (this is the second lightest shade, one even lighter one is called fair), which matches my skin perfectly no matter whether I'm selftanning or not (so it matches me when I'm NC15 or NC20-25). It has a peachy undertone, which really brightens up the under eye area. The sponge applicator works really well, although I still have to blend it a bit with my finger. It even covers some small blemishes. The only problem is that it's not sold in Slovenia (God knows why) and the closest place for me to buy it is Croatia. It is priced 10€. Highly recommended.

ArtDeco Perfect Teint Illuminator
This was one of my first ever concealers and I've repurchased it I think three times so far. Well, it's not as much of a concealer as illuminator, so basically a poor man's Touché Eclat. I never owned the famous YSL version, but this one is pretty good. I use it mostly on my under eye area, but it can also be used anywhere you would apply your highlighter, so on the top of the cheekbones, bridge of the nose, cupids bow, etc. It's not the best at covering, but that's not what it promises to do anyway. It works best in conjunction with some other concealer with heavier coverage and it really brightens up the area. Mine is the the shade 8, which has yellow undertones and there is another shade that is more pink. It is priced somewhere around 10€. 

Rimmel Match Perfection concealer
My second favourite concealer so far. It has quite a lot of coverage, it's even good for covering blemishes and looks very nice on the skin, so not cakey. I have the lightest shade called 010 Ivory which is comparable with Healthy Mix 51 or Mac's NC 15. It also has illuminating properties, which is great for under eye area. The applicator is a brush and you have to squeeze the tube for the product to come out. As well as with the Maybelline one, this one is not available in Slovenia (Rimmel in general is not sold here) and I also had difficulties finding it in Croatia (Zagreb), so I got mine in France for around 8€, but you can get it online on feelunique.com. Highly recommended.

Essence Stay All Day concealer
It's a really nice concealer especially given the price (around 3-4€). It is actually quite pigmented for a drugstore concealer. I find the coverage sufficient enough for dark circles and even some small spots, however it's still quite light. It has a doe foot applicator, which honestly I like a lot as it makes the application really easy. But there are two problems: first is that it comes in only two shades (10 Natural Beige and 20 Soft Beige) and both run very light. I own both, 10 is suited for very pale skins (Healty mix 51) and has yellow undertones, while 20 is just a tad darker (Healthy mix 52) and has pinker undertones. So for anyone darker than that unfortunately Essence doesn't offer a good colour match. Second is that it oxidises very fast on the skin. By that I mean that when you apply it, the colour turns a bit darker and orange, however, when you blend in, it looks fine. So it's not such a big problem as more of a bit of a nuisance. It is one of the best drugstore concealers available in Slovenia and one of the easiest to get, since it's sold in almost every drugstore.   

theBalm Time Balm concealer
The heavies concealer of the bunch. The texture is very thick, but not that hard to blend. I prefer to apply it with fingers because it just blends better with the skin. Unfortunately, this concealer does not work well on dry skin. It clings to every dry patch so make sure you moisturise before using it. The coverage is full, works well on dark circles and blemishes, but really make sure the area is moisturised. It feels quite thick under the eyes, so I prefer to use other concealer and I use this one on blemishes. The shade I have is Lighter than Light which is comparable to NW15 (pink undertones). Original review can be found here ->click. It the most expensive out of these five and also my least favourite, but you can get it on feelunique.com.

Hope this helps and thanks for reading!