Monday 16 February 2015

5 products i discovered via a beautybox


Hello my lovely readers,
I think many of us have or had at some point in their life a subscription to a beauty box. There is just something to it to get a little beauty suprise package each month delivered to your home with all shiny new products to test. So i myself have a subscription to the german glossy box (it does not exist in Belgium so i get it delivered to my parents and pick it up when i visit), and the french birch box (they deliver to Belgium now).
One thing i noticed after having this subscription for a while is that a tonne of the products and brands are not only new to me. They seem to be in fact new to everyone who is not a subscriber. Even when i google the products i usually just find reviews from other people with a box subscription. So far no problem since it is great to try out really new products. However, this products seem to be also partly not even available for buying in a shop but needs to be ordered in an intricate way, or in the case of glossybox sometimes i simply cant buy the product. Long story short, i often use up the products and then forget about them again. However there is a few products, which were actually so great that i have fallen in love with them and ended up tracking them down and ordering them. So i thought i introduce you to this beauties.
1) The Love me green organic face peeling. This was such a lovely little product. It is made of organic ingredients, produced in france and gives you the most refreshing mild exfoliation ever while smelling gorgeous. My sensitive skin reacts bad to quite some exfoliators but this one gave me no trouble whatsoever.
2)The Nika K blusher. This packaging is so cute. I really started to appreciate this powder. Inside you find a sponge through which the powder is applied onto your skin. However, i usually remove the sponge and pick up some powder with a brush since the sponge gives a very uneven application. The colour however is gorgeous and it lasts all day on my cheeks. I have no idea how to repurchase this safe via the birch box site itself but its very decent size makes sure i won't have to too soon ;).
3)The Huygens Verveine body lotion. This product was a funny story for me. I first did not like the scent at all. It smelled quite minty and somehow reminded me of a fresh package of chewing gum scent wise. However, i hate wasting things and i liked the idea that it was handmade from all natural ingredients, so i applied it anyway. And wow! This product felt to amazing on my skin. It gave me a slight cooling effect all over my body which helped me to relax and i swear i slept better with this bodylotion on. I have used it up till the last drop and i already reorderd it. It is only available at the moment via birch box but if you find yourself in Paris you can visit their store and get your lotions and potions individually scented. I for sure will pay them a visit: http://www.huygens.fr . Something tells me this brand will still make its way in the beauty world.
4)A little cheat here since i know the body shop before and since i love honey i would have probably tried this anyway but this was my first ever body shop scrub and while i prefer the lush scrubs a tad more, i just love love love this scent.
5)The lollipop eyeliner in black. this is a super cute liner which confuses me. You can smudge it if you want, jet it never smudges on its own and that is very rare on my oily eyes. So well whatever this magic is, i love it. This comes also from a french company which offer a whole range of make up in cutesy packing. Think the balm with a french touch. I will for sure try some more make up of this range.

Saying all this. I noticed that for some reason my article had not been properly stored to the site so if you just got a short cut of this on your first visit, i apologise.

Do you have any beauty boxes? Was there anything you fell in love with from a beauty box that you would not have tried otherwise?

Sunday 15 February 2015

Kiko generation next: My first Kiko order

Hello my lovely readers,
Kiko is since a little while available in Belgium online and now for valentines day they offer free rushed delivery (still till the 28th of february so hurry if you want to use it). This was my first Kiko order but i had heard a lot of this brand before. Everybody is raving on about what good quality the Kiko products are and that at an afforable price.One thing about Kiko is that they do not sell in other stores but exclusively in their own Kiko stores and online which might have led to this brand beeing a bit under appreciated. However, good quality is the best advertisment so people are becoming more and more aware of this brand.

I am a huge fan of highlighter and blushes so when i heard that the generation next mosaic highlighter by Kiko is a pretty good dupe for the guerlain mosaic highlighter i just had to have it. I love the mosaic pattern in the pan.  It comes in a very beautiful layered box. The top is clear while the bottom layer is a colored metal giving the products a very elegant sleek look. The blusher comes in a similar packaging but is a bit smaller in size. You get a very respectable 12 g highlighter for 15 euro and about 5g blush for 12 euro. I actually really appreciate how sturdy the packaging it while it while the closing mechanism is easy to open. Perfect for travelling. 


 I did two types of swatches to make sure you get to see the product. I did not edit this photos since i wanted to make sure to stay tru to the colour experience. So you see on my first finger the highlighter which is not to glittery and a beautiful slightly golden tone. For the blusher i went for the Inspiration rose coral colour which is more of a darker peach colour without beeing to orange. I really love both products and they give a subtle finish. They blend very well and stay put for a long time. The pattern you see in the pan stays even after several applications.


 I would recommend this products for a more sophisticated look. They are perfect for every day but can also be layered up for an evening.
Have you tried anything from Kiko? How do you like their products?

Sunday 8 February 2015

Hide your flaws: The search for the perfect concealer

Hello my lovely readers,
Wow, two days in a row that i am not rushing from appointment to appointment. So i thought, lets get wild and write two posts in a row before the working world gobbles me up again on monday.
Society tells us to embrace our flaws and yes i am starting to come to terms with my big but, my complete lack of upper body strength and my incapability with numbers but when it comes to my face i scream a loud : "Yes please" when it comes to conceal my flaws (yes, i am reading this Amy Poehler book ;) ).
So well i have been on the look out for the perfect concealer which will cover my imperfections best on a "as long as i show my face in public" basis. That can mean anything between 2 and 16 hours. The second challenge for my concealers is  that i am about the colour of this background. Nah ya, not quite as bad but i was also surely not in the first row when they were handing out the melanin. So well let me introduce you to some of the contestants and how i rank them.

1) The Collection Lasting Perfection concealer in their lightest shade. I think this is one of this holy grail products which is still lacking any worthy contender. It is very affordable. Absolutely gets the job done and lasts forever on my skin and come in the perfect shade which is slightly lighter then my skin tone (the recommendable tone for any concealer). I have never seen a negative review on this one. Negative point. They do not sell it in Belgium or Germany or any other country i would be reaching on a monthly basis. So while i will stock up on this on my next London trip i try to use this little tube carefully.
2) The Maybelline Instant Anti-Age eraser for the eye area. A wonderful under the eye concealer with a slight highlighter function. The slightly yellowish tone perfectly conceals dark rings under the eye and the slight shimmer gives it a bit of a highlighter effect.. The sponge applicator gets the job wonderfully done. However, also due to this i would not use it on blemishes since it strikes me as unhygienic. This baby is available in Germany so i can stock up on it when i visit my peeps. I also use the lightest shade here.
3)The Maybelline Fit me concealer again in their lightest shade. I do own the powder from this range too and its a favourite of mine so when i saw this in the store i want to give it a shot. The second plus point for me was that it is liquid and comes with a doe foot applicator which are my favourites when it comes to concealer. This concealer is so far the closest thing i could find to the collection concealer. It goes very well with my skin tone. However, it is a bit thinner then the collection one and does not last quite as long. But for me it is the best alternate i can find in my reach.
4) the Rimmel Hide the Blemish Concealer. I picked this up not to long ago, when Rimmel products were on sale and i actually quite like this creme based concealer. It kind of looks like a lipstick and it comes again in very good very light colour. It is quite creamy and applies very well and it is a close contender to the Maybelline Fit me concealer. I like to have this in my handbag for touch ups since it blends very well.
5) The L'oréal true match touche magique in light beige. I saw recently that they sell this also in ivory beige, just i never seem to find it in my store. This is the concealer to the much loved true match foundation from L'oréal. It is not to bad and also liquid, so i guess thats good. I do not love the applicator. It comes with a brush which gets supplied with the liquid when you twist the bottom (of the pen, not your own). I always get either to much or to less on. The shade i have really does not match my skin though. But to be fair, i should probably try one day to get my hands on the lighter shade. However, i think i would still prefer the Maybelline Fit me concealer sipmly already due to the applicator and to texture.
6) The boi-ing concealer by Benefit
I know suprise, suprise since it is such a holy grail product for so many people. I just do not get on very well with this concealer. Beside the fact that it does not fit my skin colour very well, i do not like how it applies and it does not give me the coverage i need. To be honest i just have no use of light coverage concealer. If i put on concealer, then it is usually necessary. Everything which gets covered already by my BB cream is not really in need of concealer for me. I got it as a sample size which i am happy about. It however makes me wonder if maybe the packaging changed the consistency. Would love to hear some feed back from you guys.
7) The Maybelline cover stick. I am not sure if i was just never lucky enough to find a lighter colour but this colour is way to dark for me and the concealer does not apply very well. It is kind of draggy and i have to go several time over the blemish to get enough product off. It kind of does the job and is better then no concealer but well, not my favourite.
8) The So-Susan concealer quad Ye sorry but this product is really not for me. None of the offered colours even remotely matches my skin. The texture is very weird. I got it in a glossy box and i am happy i did not pay for it seperatly. I think this one will actually go towards trash. It is supposed to be priced at 22 euro which i find very steep for this quad. To be honest in general the So Susan stuff has been a bit of a hit and miss. I have a very nice blush from them and my sister has a mascara she likes, however, there have been near riots on glossybox already when they send out their products because people hated it. So well, form your own oppinion.

On my to try list for concealer is still definitley the Rimmel Wake me Up Concealer which i heard very mixed review about (Fleur de Force featured it on the worst of Rimmel while Amelia Liana has it under her favourites. Another one i really want to try is a Nars concealer cause i heard a lot of good things about it. What are your favourites?

Saturday 7 February 2015

THE BODYSHOP: Smoky Poppy event

 Good morning my lovely readers,
It is finally weekend and we got wonderful sunshine here in Belgium. In other words perfect time to have a cup of tea and tell you all what i have been up to yesterday evening. Friday evening after work i went to the release of the new body shop line Smoky Poppy. No, no, i have not suddenly ascended into famous blogger land, this was an event open to all customers for which you could sign up per mail. In fact the bodyshop hosts these events several times per year and i think it is such a great idea to build customer relations. It is totally for free and you do not need to buy anything (although i always end up doing so ;) ).
 The staff in the Leuven Bodyshop is always very friendly but for an event such as this they really pull out all the stops. Not only did i get greated with fresh strawberry lemonade and a table of sweet and salty snacks, there was also possibilities to get your make up done with the new smoky poppy make up products, you could opt for a handmassage and obviously you could smell and test all the new products. To top it off, they also gave a 25% discount on their new line and a goodie bag worth 35 euro if you spend 30 euro. I enjoyed it greatly. I even got to talk to some other attendees about my favourite products (found a fellow honeymania lover). So yes, for me a perfect way to end a work week.


Obviously i also bought some goodies. Beside stocking up on some favourite and purchasing a few gifts i bought a small gift set of the new smoky poppy line which you can see in the title picture. The scent of this line is for sure a bit more mature and floral. I actually quite like the scent and the packaging is very nice and elegant. I bought just a small size for testing purposes and also because i might have to start soon building a second bathroom, just to stock my beauty products ;).
The goodie bag was a nice extra which i did not expect to much from since often such things contain  the rests of stock. But boy was i wrong. Not only was the goodie bag really cute, it also contained a gorgeous lipstick from the bodyshops colour crush line. It came in the colour 330 Spice things up which is a beautiful my lips but better shade with an elegant glow to it. I think what i love most about it, is how moisturising it is. It feels nearly like a lip balm but still has a decent colour pay off. I think it is a perfect daytime lipstick (swatch below). So well done bodyshop for getting me hooked on a new lipstick (i kind of want now more of those). 
I also recieved a mascara which i have yet to try and a small cocos body butter (can never go wrong with those). It also contained a small envelope with some poppy seeds for the garden. What a cute idea. So well i really enjoyed this small event and can just recommend them. If you are interested, keep your eyes peeled on their website or sign up for their emails.


This post is not sponsored. As i said the event was for free and open for all customers. The products were all purchased by me beside the goodie bag which was a special offer.

Monday 2 February 2015

Inviting the light in: Highlighters

 Hello my lovely readers,
I had  today a day off work and wonderful sunshine which gave me the perfect light to finally photograph my one very beloved collection. My highlighters. I have to admit, i did not use highlighters until maybe 2 years ago and its just been several month since i have really fallen in love with it. Highlighters are a great way to brighten up a dull complexion and to achieve a wonderful dewy look in spring. I would call highlighters part of a bit more advanced make up look since you really need to know where and how to apply it because you will otherwise just end up looking like you just came out of the gym. However, it is not that difficult to use. Highlighter is applied on your cheekbones under your brows and can also be lightly dabbed on between your brows and on your cupids bow. If you glow in the dark, you have used to much ;).
However, enough of the introductional talk and lets get to the goodies. I swatches all my highlighters for you and the swatches are labeled. A firm favourite of mine is obviously the bloggers favourite, the Mary-Lou manizer. However, this powder based highlighter is already one of the stronger ones and definitely easy to over apply for a day time look. However i love the light golden ness of this highlighter. A cream based highlighter which looks suprisingly similar is the darker shade of the sleek  highlighter palette Renaissance Gold. Next to it you see the way brighter Platinum shade which is also creme based. There is two more hightlighters in the palette, however i have never used them as such but rather for contouring since the shade is for me more akin to a bronzer or a contouring colour (on my skin tone that is).
One big suprise for me was the Essence so glow highlighter. This is also a cream based highlighter which gives a lovely rosy glow to your cheeks. It can be worn quite subtle but also build up for more effect. It seems to be coming colour wise rather close to the benefit high beam which is a highlighting liquid. I dare say that i prefer even the essence one since the benefit can be a bit tricky to apply. Not to speak about the price difference ;).  Next to it you see the Essence sun club highlighter. I just swatched the highlighter part of the powder since it is a combined bronzer and highlighter. As you can see, this one as well as the catrice multi colour highlighter are very subtle and great if you want to carefully test the waters of highlighters. Those two are along with the Essence one also the by far cheapest though they are unfortunately limited edition.

I personally prefer to wear rosy toned highlighters during the day and the golden shades for the evening. Though i sometimes just mix that up too if i feel like it (aren't i quite the rebel). My favourites are the darker sleek highlighter and the balm Mary-Lou Manizer for the evenings and the essence so glow for the day. Though i do use all of this products. The essence sun club one i barely use independently though since it is a bit so subtle for me. So i usually just apply it when i use the rest of this box too.
Which one are your favourite highlighters. Do you differ between daytime and nightime highlighters? Let me know in the comments.

Sunday 1 February 2015

Essence Cinderella limited edition




I have to admit, i am a bit of a Disney fan and i just love especially the classics. Essence has today released a Disney Cinderella inspired limited edition which i have to say i find myself wanting to take a look at. I know it looks a little childish but then again i am still at the tender age of 29, so its fine right? Essence products can vary a lot in quality but do have some great products from them and i know that even the big bloggers have had Essence products in their favourites so i do think i will give this two products a little swap in the store and might just pick it up:

I think this blusher looks just to adorable and the colour looks very pretty in the pan. So i will definitely give this a swap.



The imprint of this highlighter is sooo pretty. Essence has made some pretty good highlighters in the past so i definitely want to give this a shot.

The rest of the products are quite cute too, but this is the two things which really caught my eyes and which i wanted to share with you.