Review: False Lash Wings Mascara by L'oréal

For the last year i have been using my Maybelline Collosal Volume waterproof Mascara which i really enjoyed. However, i thought it was now really the time to try something new and i would love something which adds a bit more Volume and length to my lashes. And after all, i do not really require a lot of convincing when trying out new make up.

So when i was today already at 17:00 out of work due to a course, i wandered into the city and into the Lookiss. This is a relatively new beauty store by DI beauty and i am loving it. All my favourite drugstore make up brands (at least the ones available in Belgium) displayed beautifully and skilled make up artists to help you with your purchases. One more advantage, its just make up, so i do not have to press myself past kids buying sweets and people buying toilet paper.

This is the wand. I apologise for the crappy image but i guess you get the idea

So well, i am drifting off. I have been meaning to try once the new wands of L'oréal. So i ended up buying the False Lash Butterfly Mascara. Compared to the brush of my previous Mascara, this wand looks  completely different. It has short silicone bristles and is winged. The wings are supposed to give a curl to the lashes. It also is conically shaped to make it easier to reach all your lashes. I have to say it looks rather interesting. So here are some before and after pictures for how it looked on my lashes.

before application. Just wearing liquid eyeliner

after application: I think they definitely look longer and more voluminous

after application, eyes open

I am really happy with this Mascara, my lashes seem to be lengthen and more voluminous. The best part was that after a whole day of attending a conference, in the evening it still was were it belonged and had not run under my eyes. They also claim to curl your lashes. I do actually think that is the case. What do you think. I definitely really liked the look. It was very easy to apply and to reach all the lashes? I just went once over them at the bottom lashes though and did not catch all. But i think that was more lack of experience with the new brush. However, i did not want to go over the bottom lashes to much since i do not like to strong bottom lashes during day time.

Well to sum up. I really do not regret this purchase and at 17,99 EUR i do think you get great value for the money. Have you tried this product? Which one is your favourite mascara?

I loove... my retro style Geox flats

Geox flats. No this is not my floor, this is the flooring at the Starbucks. I literally did not have even 5 min at home in daylight, so a blogger gotta do what a blogger gotta do.

If you are a busy woman and not one of this miracle people which can walk miles and miles in heals without wanting to tear your feet off, chances are high, you love, like me, some decent flats. Now obviously there are beautiful classic ballerinas and i own several of those too. But from time to times i want something more exiting on my feet. In come my new retro style flats from Geox. I have to admit upon first time wearing them, i wasn't convinced. I got some blisters and was pretty disappointed since especially Geox is supposed to be so nice to your feet. However, the prettiness drew me back in so i wore them again and by now they are super comfortable. Their special air sole as well as the shoe design really prevents the dreaded sweaty feet and at the same time, i do not get cold feet either. Ideal. I like to wear them in warmer weather just barefoot or even in colder weather together with some black tights. They go perfect obviously with some retro style dresses but they also can be a bit of an eye catcher on jeans. So yes, in short i have been looooving those. Unfortunately i can not give you a price since they were on sale and i cannot find them anymore on the website.

And yes, busy woman means sometimes you are doing your photos in the local starbucks and get stared at strangely by people which are wondering why this women is making photos of her feet. But well as somebody famous said: People are gonna look, why not make sure they have something to see ;).

Sample Saturday: Avènè, Clinique, Dermatologica

Small part of my sample collection

If you are like me, regular shopping for beauty products, you might have a similar issue. You get this nice little samples, you are exited about them, and then they vanish into the nooks and cranies of your cosmetics closet. Or maybe you are better than me and use them up directly and do not make a mess out of your closet. In that case, congratulations, you are better than me.

In general i loooove samples since it gives you the chance to decently try a product at home in its intended way (to put face moisturiser on your hands can just tell you so much, but there is no way in hell i put something out of a tester onto my face in the middle of a store). Also, it gives you the possibility to test if you are allergic to it or show unwanted reactions. If you are like me, regular shopping for beauty products, you might have a similar issue. You get this nice little samples, you are exited about them, and then they vanish into the nooks and cranies of your cosmetics closet. Or maybe you are better than me and use them up directly and do not make a mess out of your closet. In that case, congratulations, you are better than me.

Now there are samples i use pretty much right away. I am that lucky to have an amazing pharmacy which actually usually refuses to sell me anything before they haven't stuffed me before with samples so i can try if its right for me (bless them).

Any way, in an effort to finally use all the samples i have and reduce the mess i thought i introduce to you Sample Saturday. From now on i will present to you every Saturday a few samples, a review of the product and if i will repurchase them or not. (Added bonus, i can review more for you guys)

So lets get started with these 3 samples:

Avènè Micellair Water, Clinique Superdefense moisturiser, Dermatologica daily microfoliant

I have to admit, i am starting with the 3 samples which i was anyway super eager to try. In fact, one of them is already empty.

I received the Avènè Micellar water from said favourite pharmacy. It was a great sample size since it really lasted me a week and therefore i could really figure out the effects of it. What shall i say, i am a fan. I loooove this product. I am only unsure if i should try the La Roche Posay Micellar water first before i make my decision but so far there is really zero negative points to the Avènè one. I use it to get my make up off or sometimes as well in the morning. It combines well with a washing gel, but less good with a scrub. When i used this water after a scrub, my skin turned red. I guess scrubs in general clean well enough and do not really require a second cleaner afterwards. I can say that this water removes my make up really well and leaves my skin super soft. So a definite full size purchase.(around 10 euro for 200ml)

 The Clinique Superdefense SPF20 moisturiser i got in a magazine and was exited to try it. I used it after a scrub since it is actually for dry skin and i do not have dry skin whatsoever. However, it was beautiful moisturising and made my skin feel really smooth. I love that it has SPF 20. Never to much protection for your skin, as far as i am concerned. Will i purchase the full size version? Not sure, there is nothing really negative about this product, it however also did not do miracles on my skin. I think compared to my other favourite moisturisers, it really does not make a huge enough difference to justify the price for me. However, i would love to try a sample actually made for my skin type and i am also aware that i just got 3 uses out of this sample, so the long term effects might be better.(full size product retails at 52 EUR)

The dermatologica daily microfoliant i received after a skin consultation in a Douglas in Germany. I got in total 4 of this samples and each of them is good for at least 3 uses, therefore i really got the chance to test it. This is an exfoliant based on enzymes and Salicyl acid rather then scrubbing particles. It is based on rice extracts and contains papaya, salicyl acid and rice enzymes. It also contains green thee and oat extracts to calm the skin. Dermatologica products come with a price tag but i have to say they are sometimes worth it. I think i never felt my skin so clean. I do not think i would really use it every day since it seemed to be rather intense, however i would love to use this 2-3 times per week. It comes in a powder form which is mixed with water and then applied to the face (for sure nice to travel with since it does go in the hand luggage and weights less) Will i purchase the full size? I would love to. It will go on my wish list and i might purchase it after my London shopping for which i am saving right now. (full size product retails at 66EUR)

So that concludes the first Sample Saturday. If you would like to see more of this feature, let me know. Did you have any great samples lately or do you have any full size version of the displayed samples? Let me know your opinion.

Benefit "It's potent" eye cream and Eddy the cat

"It's potent packaging and Eddy photo bombing

For most of you cat owners, this will be familiar to you. I can hardly do anything around the house without my lovely roommate (cats are not owned by anyone, mind you) Eddy the cat. So while I wanted to review the "It's potent" eye cream by Benefit, Eddy decided he can do that so much better and who am I to argue. So well here is the review modelled by Eddy.

They are good to play with if that should be an important factor to you when buying cosmetics :P

I have to start with admitting that I am a Benefit fan so when I got this little luxury sized sample, I was over the moon. I have been looking for a good eye cream for a while. I used to use a Nivea one, but my skin did not agree with it. So well now I tried this one.

It promises to brighten your eyes and make them look younger. It also claims to remove dark circles and fine lines. Now I can't talk to much about effects on fine lines since this is one of the few things, nature (my genes) have blessed me with, I have no lines yet. However, dark circles? Oh yes! 

The cream has no strong colour or scent as far as I can tell. It applies very well and does not leave a fatty film (good for when you want to apply make up afterwards). Indeed it seemed to immediately brighten my skin. It was very nicely cooling and soothing for my under eye skin. I do not suffer from dry skin under my eyes so I am not sure how it would be there but for my eyes it was very good. I have not noticed a long term strong reduction of dark circles but to be honest i do not expect that from a cream either. Never the less i keep you posted as I continue using it, that is when Eddy let me have it. So far, I think, I will definitely purchase the full size.

Benefit, for eyes as beautiful as Eddys

LUSH: Ocean Salt Face and Body Scrub; Review

When i take a shower i love to use a good facial scrub. One of the advantages of using the scrub under the shower is that i do not need to worry about getting scrub particles into my hair since i will wash it anyway. 

Recently i have been trying the Ocean Salt Face and Body Scrub from Lush. It contains sea salt to scrub (so no bad plastic microbeads), limes for brightening and avocado butter to soften the skin. It comes in the typical black lush pots which i like for how easy they are to open and close even in the shower. Also, if you collect 5 and return them to the Lush store, you get a fresh face mask for free (great idea to get people recycle Lush :) ). The colour of the scrub is a bit of an off white to blueish shade. Not in particular appealing colour but to be honest i prefer a natural colour since it means there  is no extra chemicals in there just to give a different colour.

I in general looooove Lush but I never tried this scrub so I was curious about this one. Scrubs are always for me a balancing act. There are the ones which are just very weak and basically won't do anything and then there are the ones which leave you with red skin (which is too much for my liking). 

Now this Scrub felt at first felt rather coarse and i was worrying it would be to harsh on my skin. However, it quickly started to feel softer. It does not have a very intense scent which i also appreciate. In fact it smells rather lightly citrusy and fresh. I like this a lot. After I got out of the shower i still applied my usual moisturiser.  By now i can say, this scrub has been amazing. Even the day after I still felt that my skin was softer and cleaner then usual. I had no redness whatsoever nor any dry feeling of the skin. I use it two to maximum three times per week since to much abrasive skin treatments can really dry out your skin.

I have used it so far just for my face since it is rather pricey and I felt the little pot would be to fast empty when i would use it all over, so i have not tried that yet, however since my face is usually more sensitive then the rest of my skin, i am sure it would work there too. I am loving this product and i think i will repurchase it when the little pot is empty.

Have you tried any other Lush scrub? I would love to hear more about it! Let me know in the comments.

Yves Rocher haul

So on Friday i had a an hour spare and thought i drop into the Yves Rocher store for the shower gel and lipstick of my autumn wish list. Yeaaah....right! Like I ever managed to get out of the store with just the stuff i planed to buy. The mix of natural ingredients, affordable prices and delicious smells  means I am usually walking with at least double the amount I wanted to buy out of this store. And yes, this time was not any different. But well I regret nothing. So without further a do, I present you this blogs first haul.

Yves Rocher: from left to right: Vitalizing spray grapefruit; Sebo vegetal serum, blackberry handcream, exfoliating shower gel blackberry, peach and vanilla; Vanilla agriculture body lotion; cherry oil lipstick "cerise noir"; shower sponge, eye shad brush.

So i first walked up to the shower gels with the intention to purchase just the blackberry scrub shower gel. But of cause there were little glass bottles displayed to sniff at a sample of all the shower gels including a vanilla and peach one. Now when there is two scents which always get me... On top of that there was a three for ten euro offer! So yes to make a long story short, I bought 3 shower gels. And they smell delicious! What i especially like about those is that the scrubbing particles are natural kiwi and apricot pits. Way better for the environment.

yves rocher exfoliating shower gel

Right under the shower gels were cute little bottles with body milk and since I was going to go on a trip this weekend I thought that would be a perfect thing to take for travelling since I do not own about 3 travel sized body lotions jet (cough). But well I do not own one with vanilla scent right?

Next on was a serum. I did not have one so far and I really want to try to see if it makes a difference. So I purchased the sebo vegetal serum which is also supposed to reduce pore size.

Yves Rocher sebo végétal serum

Further i bought a refreshing spray which also supposedly fixes the make up (sounds great). I will let you know how it works for me.

I then bought the Cherry oil lipstick in cherries noir from my wish list and oh my god, it looks great. It is a beautiful natural berry colour on my lips. Perfect for an autumn day look. 

I further purchased an eye shadow brush and I got a blackberry hand lotion for free (yay, is it weird that I love that this fits with my autumn theme).

Have you tried any of these products? What have you recently purchased at Yves Rocher? let me know in the comments.

Autumn/Fall 2014 Wish list

One of the clearest sign that autumn is upon us is when Eddy the cat starts to spend his evenings again trying to lay in between me and my book or me and my laptop. As i am writing this, i have to remove Eddy repeatedly from the keyboard, so for me its clear; summer is over. I know, i know, according to the calendar, autumn does not start yet but to be honest i have never given a lot on the official seasons. The leaves are coloured, the chestnuts are laying all over the street, i am getting my sweaters back out, its autumn, no stupid calendar can tell me otherwise. So well, i have been looking into this autumns colours and i am loving it. As far as make up is concerned, berry tones seem to be all the rage and me an my pale skin colour are digging it. I love bright pink and i think orange and yellow can look very interesting on some people, however on me it just looks like i got too intimate with a traffic cone. Fair skin and bright colours do not agree, so i looove the berry tones.

Now to my favourite part about a new season, an excuse to buy some more make up (shhh this is how i am selling this to the hubby). So i thought i share my wish list with you for the berry trend.

Who know me, knows my love for lipsticks. The Mac lipsticks are so far unbeaten for me, so the first lipstick on the wish list is obviously a Mac one. Its the "Lingering kiss" out of the new "A romance novel" collection and retails at about 18,50EUR. The colour is described as a deep plum red. And i imagine it be quite a statement colour. I will update you on how the colour turned out when i managed to get my hands on it.

Mac "Lingering Kiss"; 18,50EUR

The next is also a lipstick in a bit less statement but still none the less beautiful autumn colour. Its the Yves Rocher Cherryoil lipstick in cerise noir (black cherry). The cherry oil in this lipstick collection is supposed to give a unique natural reflection of light. I have heard a lot of amazing things about this lipstick series and  have been meaning to pick one up for quite some time. This one appears to me a very good idea for a day to day look. And at a price of 5,95EUR also not a wallet buster. 

   Yves Rocher cherry oil  "cerise noir"; 5,95EUR  

Next up are two eyeshadows, L'Oreal actually showed in their newsletter. It is from the "Ombre Pure" collection by "colour riche" I really like the deep intense berry tone and the nude colours. The two i have picked here are the "Escape in Bordeaux" and "Golden Nude" (10,90 EUR). You will notice that i am not going for very expensive high end brands. Usually i like to try out seasonal colours with drug store or other lower priced quality products. After all you don't want to spend a hundred euro just to figure out that the colours do not suit you. Beside that way i can try more in one go without breaking bank.

L'Oreal Paris, "Escape in Bordeaux"; 10,90EUR

L'Oreal Paris, "Golden Nude"; 10,90EUR

I also came across this eye shadow pallett within Macs new collection:"A romance novel". Four differenct beautiful berry colours and knowing Macs quality i am sure they will be awesome. I can't wait to try them out.

Mac "A passionate quest"; 38EUR

At last, the Yves Rocher exfoliating shower gel with bramberry extracts and kiwi pits. Yes i know, it actually might be over the top to adjust the colours of your shower gel but i am just in love with the berry colours and i love a good shower gel to get me into the seasonal mood. In general i have been enjoying the Yves Rocher quality and natural ingredients when it comes to shower gels, so any excuse really to try this one.

 Yves Rocher Exfoliating shower gel "Bramberry"; "3,95EUR

I will make sure to post reviews of any of these products after i have tried them.

Last a link to an autumn/fall inspired look including a berry coloured lipstick by the stunning Zoella.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HE49Hl4E-0

What is on your wish list for the autumn make up routine? Have you tried already any of these produts? Let me know in the comments!