Product of the Week #5

My first ever blush was this little gem, Nars Orgasm, which is probably the most popular blush in the last decade, I'm guessing also partly because of the cheeky name, and is the origin of the peachy pink trend. Many companies attempted to create a similar shade, but you can be the judge of how successful they were. I used to wear it every day during high school, after all it was my only blush for a long time, but has since been gathering dust in my blush drawer. I admit Coralista has steered me away into more coral toned blush territory for a while, but this week I dusted off my old friend and wore it every day. I am at my palest right now and this gives me a subtle, more pink than peach flush with finely milled golden shimmer that adds a bit of much needed radiance to the cheeks in the gloomy winter months. I have another Nars blush with a brazen name which itself makes you blush, Deep Throat, however that one is more pigmented and I need to use a light hand to pull it off.

Kje lahko Slovenci dobimo MAC kozmetiko

Sorry to international readers, but this post will be mostly in Slovene. There is a short summary in English at the end with info about where to get Mac in central Europe and online. The translation of the title is: Where can Slovenes get Mac cosmetics. You can still look at the pictures of my favourite city Gradz and my Mac makeup.

Ali se Mac prodaja v Sloveniji, kje lahko dobiš Mac kozmetiko in kje jo kupujem so vprašanja, ki jih dobim kar pogosto. Pa kar začnimo z najpomembnejšim, ki pa je verjetno večini znan: Mac kozmetika se ne prodaja v Sloveniji. Ali se bo kdaj v prihodnosti seveda ne vem, je bilo pa že kar nekaj zanimanja s strani naših podjetij z željo, da bi bili zastopniki. Na žalost Mac-a naš trg trenutno ne zanima. Kot primer citiram iz Ličila.si:

Boste prodajali še kakšno drugo kozmetiko?

Vedno in povsod radi slišimo kakšne nove predloge, se potrudimo in izdelke pripeljemo k nam. Samo namig: znamke M.A.C. pri nas ne bomo prodajali, saj smo premajhna ribica zanje - verjemi, smo že poskušali. Lahko bi jih sicer kot konkurenca pridobili na črnem trgu, a mi svojim strankam privoščimo izključno originalno kvaliteto, brez dvoma.

Torej samo da opozorim, strani kot je tale: http://www.maccosmetics.si/ niso prave.

Kot drugo, kje se jo dobi. No, če začnemo z okoliškimi državami, dobi se jo povsod. Nam najbližje so v Zagrebu**, Celovcu*, Gradcu, Benetkah, v Budimpešti in na Dunaju. Od teh sem bila le v Gradcu in Celovcu. V Gradzu MAC prodajajo v Drogeriji Marionnaud, ki je v centru mesta, v ulici Herrengasse s hišno št.18. Ulica je za mestno hišo (ki je ne moreš zgrešit ker je ogromna), Mariounaud pa je nasproti trgovine Yves Rocher. Samo kot namig, Gradec je čudovito mesto, priporočam ogled če že boste tam, vsaj povzpnite se na grič z uro (imajo tudi vzpenjačo). Sem pa na poti proti stopnicam za na vrh opazila tudi drogerijo kjer so imeli Bobbi Brown. Za lažjo orientacijo je tu še zemljevid in slike centra. Parkiranje je pa mala nočna mora, ker je center poln enosmernih ulic, raje parkirajte nekje ob Muri in nadaljujte peš. Je pa mesto približno tako veliko kot Ljubljana.

Označeno z A:

 Slika iz leta 2009:

Malo novejše iz lanskega Marca:

Še nekaj slik Gradca, klikni za večjo sliko: 1. Ulica Herrengasse, 2. mestna hiša:

 1. ura, 2. stopnice do ure, 3. trg pod stopnicami (tam nekje je drogerija z Bobbi Brown)

*Update (Julij 2014): Med mojim zadnjim obiskom Celovca/Klagenfurta, sem opazila, da je tudi tam na voljo MAC kozmetika in sicer v nakupovalnem centru City Arkaden, v drogeriji Douglas. Če greste le v center ne rabite kupiti avstrijske vinjete za razliko od tega če greste v Gradec, ampak se prej pozanimajte po katerih cestah je treba (jaz sem šla čez Ljubelj). Nakupovalni center ima svoj parkirni prostor, ki je plačljiv.

Kar se cen tiče, na kratko zelo visoke. Šminke so že 19€, v primerjavi s 15$ v ZDA, kar je 11,5€, torej cena kakšne L'Orealove šminke pri nas. Za druge cene poglejte na uradni Avstrijski Macovi strani tukaj. Lokacije drugih trgovin so tukaj in pa na uradni strani (spodaj pod store und events suchen). V Mariounaud v Gradcu govorijo angleško, ne pa slovensko (npr. v The Body Shop v nakupovalnem centru Seiersberg ena prodajalka zna)

**Update (Marec 2015): V Zagrebu se je januarja odprla prva Mac trgovina, ki je menda največja v tem delu Evrope. Vhod v trgovino je na Preobraženski ulici, zemljevid lahko najdete tukaj. V njej še nisem bila, ampak cena šmink je 151.90 kn, kar je približno 20 €.

V Budimpešti sta 2 trgovini, ena v centru v ulici Váci in ena v Arena Plaza nakupovalnem centru. V Benetkah je v drogeriji Coin, za druga mesta imate podatke tukaj. 

Od drugih mest sem bila v večini Macov v Londonu. Najbolj mi je bila postrežba všeč v Harrod's, se pa dobi še marsikje, tudi na letališčih.

Obdelali smo trgovine, zdaj pa še splet. Kakšne spletne trgovine, ki bi prodajala samo Mac ni, tudi uradne strani ne pošiljajo v Slovenijo. Najboljša možnost so posamezni prodajalci na eBayu, ki seveda navijejo cene skupaj s poštnino. Jaz najbolj zaupam ameriškim, kanadskim in britanskim prodajalcem. Allcometicswholesale ima nekaj Mac-a, samo nisem še kupovala pri njih. Isto velja za strawberynet, s tem da mi je ta stran že od nekdaj malo čudna. Pri thebodyneeds lahko dobite sample velikosti pigmentov, šmink in še nekaterih stvari. Kar pa se tiče drugih spletnih trgovin, na spletu je ogromno strani, ki trdijo da prodajajo avtentične Mac izdelke, v resnici pa so kitajski ponaredki. Nihrida je o njih že pisala tukaj. Za kako odkriti ponaredke pa obstaja ogromno objav, ampak na kratko če je prepoceni, v drugačni embalaži, je paleta z 50+ senčili ali komplet npr. 24 čopičev je ponaredek. Če je prodajalec še iz Kitajske ali tam okoli potem je tudi zelo sumljivo. 

Pa se res splača kupovati Mac? Mac je zelo priljubljena znamka v tujini, o tem ni dvoma. Seveda Američanke in Kanadčanke lahko kupujejo po cenah, ki sem nam zdijo normalne za znamke kot so L'Oreal, Bourjois in Max Factor zato se ni čudno, da imajo tuje blogerke/youtuberke toliko njihovih stvari. Evropejske cene so močno navite in se že približujejo npr. kakšnemu Lancomu, čeprav je cenovno Isadora verjetno najbližje. Njihova velika prednost je velika prepoznanost in pa ogromno barv. Jaz sem se kar malo naveličala Mac-a, je predrag in je težko sploh priti do njega. V zadnjih letih so cenejše znamke začele proizvajati zelo dobra ličila in nekateri izdelki se že kosajo z višjecenovnimi znamkami. Če si res želite nek določen izdelek si ga seveda privoščite, ampak verjemite mi da obstaja ogromno podobnih barv in tekstur pri drugih znamkah. Senčila so res dobra, ampak lahko si naprimer privoščite kakšno Naked paletko ali pa MUA približek le-te, ki so veliko lažje dosegljiva. Isto velja za šminke in vse ostalo. Seveda če bi lahko izdelke dobila po ameriških cenah bi bila tudi jaz bolj zagreta stranka. Večino Macovih izdelkov sem kupila v Gradcu in v Londonu, s tem da je v Londonu cenejši kot v Avstriji.

No to je vse. Če imate kakšna vprašanja, nove informacije ali kakšen popravek kar na plano z njimi pod komentarji. 

A short summary for international readers:
Mac is not sold in Slovenia. The closest where it's sold is in Zagreb (entrance from Preobraženska ulica), Celovec (Douglas, City Arkaden, city centre), Gradz (centre of the city, address Herrengasse 18, pictures are above, it's difficult to park in the centre), Budapest (Váci street in the centre and in Arena Plaza shopping centre) and Venice (in Coin department store). There is no official site that would ship Mac to our county, so I mostly rely on eBay. There I trust US, Canadian and UK sellers the most. Some Mac is sold on Allcometicswholesale, strawberrynet.com and you can get sample sizes on thebodyneeds. There are a lot of fake Mac products online, Nihrida wrote about her experience here. A lot has been written about how to spot fake Mac, so I suggest Google for more detailed posts, but in short if it's too cheap, comes in a different packaging, is a palette with 50+ eyeshadows or a 20-something brush kit it's fake. Also beware of suspicious web sites, most of them originate in China.

Thanks for reading.

Updated Night Routine

Since my skin became much drier in the winter months, I decided to do an updated skin care post about my night routine. It was quite bad for a while, my skin felt so tight and was flaky especially on the forehead, but I started using more oils and I can report that in the last weeks my skin got a lot better.

L'Occitane Honey Foaming Gel - I just got it about a week ago and I like it, especially because of the  gorgeous scent. I used the previous version of L'Occitane Honey Harvest Foaming Jelly a few years ago until they discontinued it and I can report that this is exactly the same, with the same gorgeous honey scent and jelly-gel texture. I still use Bioderma to take the makeup off, but I always wash my skin with a cleanser. I just want the feeling that my face is clean by rinsing everything off. This is quite gentle, though it does sting if it gets into eyes, but it doesn't dry out my skin. It contains some shea butter and honey.

Ombia Hyaluron Gel - I bought this because it has a high content of hyaluronic acid (2nd on the ingredients list), which seems to be all the rage as THE ingredient for hydrating skin. I've been using it for two months now and honestly, I don't notice any effects in terms of my skin being more moisturised. And yes, I know the theory behind hylaruonic acid and that it shouldn't be used by itself, but the fact is that my skin was still dry and flaky before I started using argan oil. I don't know, maybe I'm using it wrong or I should combine it with a different moisturiser. I'll still continue using it, I see it as an investment in the future of my skin.

Omnia Botanica Argan Oil - My saviour in the past month. It helps immensely with my dry and flaky skin, and works great in conjunction with Huile Prodigieuse. My skin feels a lot better and less dry after using for a month.

Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse - I've already wrote so much about it, but the short version is: I freaking love it. I've been using it every day since May 2011 and my skin has never felt so soft and has that natural radiance, basically it just looks healthy. I still need to combine it with something in winter, because it is a light dry oil and doesn't heal my flakes. 

Mavala Double-Lash - I got this way back in December because I wanted to strengthen my lashes. For the past year I lose about an eyelash a day and it doesn't matter if I'm wearing makeup or not. I've been using it religiously all December and January, I wore no eye makeup and was really gentle around the eyes, but this did nothing. My lashes are still falling out. Maybe I'm overreacting, because my lashes still look ok and maybe it's just my normal shedding cycle, I don't know, but I want it to stop. Because I had no results whatsoever, I stopped using it for a while, but I started using it again. Maybe I'll work this time, besides I don't want to just throw it away.

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Swivel Stick - This is basically the best lip balm ever. It's a multi-purpose product, but I use it just for my lips. It leaves my lips so soft and the formula is so nice, not at all waxy like regular lip balms. I use this every night before I go to bed and I notice a massive difference if I forget to use it.

Tea tree oil - If I have a blemish, I use tea tree oil as a spot treatment. It's all right, but I won't lie, I still miss the discontinued Essence roll-on treatment. 

Katy Perry For Eylure False Lashes 'Oh Honey'

Quite some time ago, Katy Perry launched her own false lashes collection in collaboration with Eylure. There are four different lashes available and Oh, Honey look the prettiest in my opinion, because they slightly flare out in the outer corner, are moderately long and not too thick. These aren't mine, but my cousin's. She bought them for a special occasion and came to me to do her make up. These are nice to work with, the band is soft and they are very pliable. They were a bit too long, so I had to cut of the outer edge a bit. The glue works ok, but I never had Duo so I can't compare. 

Ok, now for a different pair of eyes for a change, here are my cousin's hazel eyes without makeup:

And with:

Because the lashes fan out towards the outer end, it elongates the eyes a little. The lashes look full and wispy, but not overly dramatic. Honestly, I would mind having a pair of these. As I said, I did the makeup. Obviously, I'm no makeup artist and I just did a simple look with Catrice Mr. Copper Field, Nyx eyeshadow in Black, L'Oreal Infailible in Endless Chocolate and Hourglass Beige. She doesn't let me get too crazy with the makeup, so this is sort of a follow-her-instructions look and she did her own mascara. Mascara is Essence get BIG lashes and foundation is Bourjois Flower Perfection. The pictures are a bit washed out, because I took them under artificial light (Phillips bulb cool daylight) since it was already dark outside. 

Slovene readers can get Katy's lashes in Interspar, she bought them in the one in Citypark for 8.85€ and I believe they sell all four (depends on the stock). Readers from other countries can get them on Asos, but I don't know where else are they sold.

Thanks for reading!

Bourjois Flower Perfection Foundation

Back in February when I was tan, I tested Flower Perfection foundation by Bourjois. I bought it for my mother who is darker than me, hence the shade 53 (normally I'm 51). In my opinion Bourjois has some of the best foundations in drugstore. Their Healthy Mix serum is my all-time favourite foundation (light coverage), and I also like the original Healthy Mix (medium coverage). Flower Perfection caters to those who wish full coverage.

I can say it has medium to full coverage. It's not quite full, since as you can see on the picture, my freckles are still visible. It covers redness very well, the same goes for under eyes circles, however, you still need a concealer for spots. I had an annoying big, red blemish on my forehead at the time and I find that trying to layer the foundation to cover it doesn't really work. The finish is matte, but I can't say how well it contains oiliness since my skin is dry. I suggest the use of highlighter and bronzer because it makes your skin look quite flat due to full coverage and matte finish. It's very runny and easy to apply, however, you need a lot to get a full coverage. It reminds me a lot of Revlon Colorstay for oily/combination skin. Because my skin is dry, it emphasised my pores and didn't sit that nice on my skin. It works far better on my cousin's skin, which is more normal/oily combination and it melts well into her skin, also she loves it because it covers her natural redness in her cheeks very nicely. On the other hand, my mother claims that after a month of use, it dried out her skin up to a point when it was really uncomfortable. I'd recommend it to people with oily and problematic skin, if your skin is dry, it's best you avoid it.

It lasts very well on the skin, which is a surprise for a Bourjois foundation (as good as they are, they lack in lasting power). Unlike the Healthy Mix range which has a fruity scent, this one has a floral scent. If you ever had Healthy Mix, you are familiar with how strong the fragrance is, more sensitive people might find it too strong.

Packaging is a bit odd. My main complaint is the huge top with the sponge. In my experience this foundation doesn't work well with sponges, but more with fingers and denser brushes (like Real Techniques Expert Face brush). The lid makes the whole bottle look quite bulky. The pump is nice and it dispenses a good amount of product.

It costs about the same as all Bourjois foundations, a bottle will set you back 14€. It is available in the same colour range as the rest of Bourjois foundations, so 51 to 56. 

February Favourites

My skin and hair have been super dry this month, because of the central heating and all. Orofluido Sahara is a miracle in a bottle. I didn't really appreciate is as much before this month, but now it became one of my HG's for treating dry hair. My hair was so dry, even my trusted Joico treatment failed to moisturise my dried up mop, but as soon as I spritzed some Sahara on my hair, it immediately restored it to a normal state. You know what, I dismissed their claim about the product being tested in Sahara as extravagant marketing, but there may actually be some truth to that. I think it is protecting from extreme dryness, as I find that since I applied it generously, my hair hasn't felt as dry as usual even on later days.

Nuxe Prodigieuse Or is another product I used on my hair to give it some shine, but lately I've been using it as an illuminating base under foundation and it works brilliantly. The shimmer is quite discreet, so it gives that Victoria Secret bronze glow to the skin almost every girl is after.

I featured Omnia Botanica Argan oil in my product of the week post and I've been using it every day. It has been saving my poor parched skin. It leaves it supple, moisturised and helps with dry patches. A great oil for dry skin.

I had my tin of The Body Shop's Coconut oil close to me all the time. Right now, it's next to my computer so that tells something. I put a small amount on my ends whenever they're feeling dry. I'm normally not a fan of it, but it is the greasiest thing I own for the ends, making it perfect for this time of the year.

I came across a small tin of the long discontinued L'occitane eau des Vanilliers in one of my drawers and it brought back a lot of memories. I loved that fragrance. Feeling all nostalgic, I went to L'Occitane and I purchased/added to my wishlist a few things, but more about that in some other post. 

I was very tan (fake of course) in the beginning of the month, so I sported some coral lips, most often L'Oreal's Rouge Carress in Dating Coral, which looks so much prettier on me when I tan.
Revlon's Lip Butter in Berry Smoothie is such an easy colour to wear, it just goes with everything (btw some info for Slovene readers: lip butters are sold in Müller on Čopova. Lollistick wrote about it here).
For darker lips I loved Essence Berry Me Home from Home, Sweet Home TE. Essence (or Cosnova) should really bring this formula into permanent range.

Holika Holika Peach Girl BB is my current choice of BB, because it is the only moisturising enough BB/foundation I have. It works so well on dry, flaky skin and creates a nice, dewy base that looks very natural. It was in my products of the week post.

Catrice Mr.Brightside from NeoNaturals LE is a very interesting shade. It looks bright, close to neon, pure pink in the bottle, however, on my nails it turns more coral pink. It's a brighter cousin of Barry M's Pink Flamingo and truly a wonderful shade. Too bad it's LE.

I'm ending this post with a short summary of this year's February: Snow. Snow everywhere. We have over 90 cm of snow here. Unfreakingbelievable. I don't like Winter. If anyone is interested how much snow we have, click here. Thanks for reading!

Preview: Hello Petite Bunnies!

Look what landed in my post today. Aren't they cute? These are called Petite Gloss Bar by a Korean brand TonyMoly. There is a big selection of colours, but I just got two: Juicy Peach, or as I call it Mr. Happy, and Juicy Orange, or my Mr. Grumpy. I just got them, so I have to test them, do proper pictures and all the rest, but fret not there will be a detailed post about them sometime in March. I got them on eBay for 6$ each (4.6€) from this seller. I think Mr.Grumpy (Juicy Orange) is the cutest thing I've seen, it reminds me of grumpy kitty one of my favourite memes.

I'm writing February favourites now and it will be up sometime today or tomorrow, but for now thanks for reading.

New Essence Goodies Part 2

I reviewed the Match2Cover cream concealer and get big lashes waterproof mascara in the first part. Now it's time for all the lip stuff.

As soon as I saw these in the promo pictures, I put them on my wishlist. I have matte lip creams from Manhattan and Nyx, and I have often gushed over them here. I could hardly wait to get them and I wasn't disappointed because these are amazing! There are four colours, I got the two darker ones: Smooth Berry and Silky Red. The other two are neutral shades, but too dark for me and I didn't get them because I find dark nudes look ridiculous on me.

Packaging is the same as at Stay with Me lip gloss, nothing fancy and with a standard doe foot applicator.
These babies are sooo pigmented. I got one dot on the back of my hand and the colour got everywhere, so beware of that plus keep in mind that it stains you skin. If I go straight to the comparison with other matte lip creams I have from Manhattan and Nyx, I'd say they are more like cousins than dupes. The Essence ones are creamier, have a stronger pigment and don't set as those do.  Due to the creaminess they feel very comfortable on the lips and even slightly moisturising, they don't dry out the lips like Manhattan's or Nyx's can sometimes. Because they don't set, they do transfer, like on a drinking glass and they do smudge if you're not careful. The finish is creamy and slightly shiny, it gets more matte with time. I think liquid lipstick or something similar would be a more appropriate name than matt lip cream.

They have a strong scent, stronger than Manhattan's or Nyx, but it's a different scent. I can't point it out, but it's similar to strawberry yoghurt.

Smooth berry is a warm fuchsia shade and it's more rosy or pink than on my swatch. A more accurate swatch is in my full face photo. Surprisingly, I have no dupes for it. (Magi did a more accurate swatch on her blog, this is exactly how it looks on me) 

Silky Red is a bright, pure red, but it leans more to orange undertones.

Here are swatches of all the lip products in this post and on the second picture I did a comparison of some  other red shades I own. Compared to Silky Red, Manhattan Soft Mat Lip Cream 45H is much darker and less bright, the same goes for Russian Red. Ruby Woo is close, but still less bright and blue toned. MUA 13 is lighter and brighter.

Apologies for looking so utterly plain, it was Sunday morning after all. This is more of my I'm-testing-stuff-face, but yeah, I could have put a little bit more effort into it. For the rest of the make up I'm wearing Healthy Mix 51, essence Match2Cover concealer, Catrice Madame Butterfly on the cheeks and essence get big lashes mascara.

Staying power is excellent. It survives eating and drinking with almost no fading, and it lasts over 8 hours. The original swatch was taken at 11 AM and these three bellow where taken later. The first was at 3 P.M. after eating and drinking, the second at 5 PM and the last at 7 PM when I took it off. It stays vibrant even after hours and it fades slowly, but evenly. 

If you're a lipstick addict like me, run and get them. These really are so lovely and long-lasting, but you have to be more careful with them because they do smudge and transfer. Price: 2.19€

Because I love the colour changing lip balm from the Miami Roller Girl, I patiently awaited Oz the Great and Powerful TE which has two new shades. In my experience with the orange one I have, these aren't much colour changing in terms of adapting to you pH, but more like tinted moisturisers. I got the red one called Glinda the Good and honesty, I hoped it'd be redder. Meh. Maybe it will leave more colour when I use it up a bit. It's a nice moisturising lip balm though, but the scent is sooo strong. It smells to me like Ospen syrup for children (a medicine when I was little), a sickly sweet artificial candy scent. Price: 2.19€.

Catrice Neo Geisha Cheek and Lip Colour C03 Madame Butterfly looks very bright red in the pan, but it doesn't have a particularly strong pigment. It looks lovely as a cheek colour as it gives that nice subtle I-just-came-from-the-cold flush, similar to a red cheek stain I have (a dupe for Benetint btw), but much easier to apply and blend. It's not as creamy as I wish it would be. It works as a lip colour, however, you have to build it up quite a lot. It's more of a rosy shade on the lips rather than red. Price: 4.19€.

Thanks for reading.

New Essence Goodies Part 1

And again essence released a bunch of new makeup as they do so often. I got three things that are new in the permanent range, a colour changing lip balm from the newest Oz The Great and Powerful TE and a mascara that has been in the permanent range for a while. That little red pot from Catrice is a part of the Neo Geisha LE. I'll do this in two parts, the second will feature lip products and I'll post it very soon (I have the pictures already, I just have to write the reviews). 

First up is the Match2Cover cream concealer: 

The idea here is that you have two shades of concealer in one product and you either use one, or mix the two to get the perfect match for your skin. It is a great idea, I'll give them that, but the product leaves much to be desired. 

Starting with the packaging. It's simple, plastic, the lid stays shut and doesn't feel flimsy. It is small, compact and good for travelling. 

The texture is what left me disappointed. It feels creamy in the pot, but so dry on my skin and I wore a moisturiser underneath (La Roche Posay Cicaplast if you're wondering). You can see on the picture where I'm wearing it that it looks cakey and dry. I had difficulties blending it nicely as it didn't melt in my skin at all. I also didn't like it for pinpoint concealing. For some reason it didn't cover the redness I have from old blemishes and it just caked up. Maybe it would perform better on oiler skins, I don't know. I find it almost a complete dupe of theBalm's Time Balm concealer in terms of texture. Essence feels a bit more creamy to the touch, however, on the skin both feel dry and very similar.

I'd say coverage is medium to full. Perhaps I'm just spoiled from Estee Lauder Maximum Cover, but I find that though it covers my circles well, it doesn't cover blemishes or red marks effectively.

Shades are a pleasant surprise, though. The light shade is the lightest I own. It's even lighter than theBalm's Time Balm Lighter than Light and even on my Snow White skin, it works wonderful as an illuminator. Just for reference, Maybelline's the Eraser in Fair is my perfect match right now. The darker shade is a smidgen darker than Maybelline's the Eraser in Light and I think it will match a lot of people. Unfortunately, this is the only combination of shades available, so people with darker skintones won't find a match here.

Here is a comparison of all concealers I have plus Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation in 51 (it's swatched on my forearm, which is milky white right now):

I'm wearing the concealer on the right. As you can see it looks dry and obvious. Perhaps if I used a super greasy moisturiser it would work better. However, it creased even without it, so I think it would be even worse with it. Included here is the effect of essence get BIG lashes mascara:

All in all, I'm not too impressed. I was looking forward to this concealer, but it left me disappointed. If your skin is dry avoid it. Perhaps, it performs better on oilier skin. It costs 2.69€.

Essence get BIG lashes volume boost waterproof mascara is not a new addition in the essence range, but Sara from Passing Fancy said it's her favourite, so I gave it a go. You can see the effect in the picture above, honestly the lashes look a bit bigger in person than on the pic (I have no idea why my lashes always look so blah in pictures and so much nicer in person). In my experience, it gives you more length than volume. You get big lashes all right, but it looks a bit too clumpy for my taste. I prefer the look of natural volume, I mean big lashes that still look like there is nothing or much on them. I get that with the Maybelline one, though this one is not bad at all. I think it looks better a few minutes after application. I find the brush clumsy, because it's big and the bristles could be more defined. It looks just like an old school brush. The formula is dry as with most waterproof mascaras. It is a very good waterproof mascara, better than the Maybelline one. The latter smudges in contact with water and this one doesn't. It crumbles under a shower, but to a much lesser degree than I expected. In that respect I give a nod to essence. Because it's a good waterproof mascara is holds curl well. It's a nice mascara for the price, but not my favourite drugstore one. I like how it's waterproof, holds curl and lengthens, but the brush could be nicer and I'm not too excited about the clumps either. It costs 2.69 €.

Second part will be up soon. Thanks for reading!