Make up products come and go...

Hello everyone,

It's been a while since I've posted a pure text blog post on my blog, so thought I'd surprise you all :)
I'm sure not everyone who's passioned by make up thinks about how long they can keep their favorite product in their make up bag.
It's important to emphasize that all make up products have an expiration date. It's not easy to follow how long you've been using a certain product. Most people keep their goodies until they're dry, don't apply as smooth as they did in the beginning or just keep using it until it's empty. (ow yeah, empties blog posts!)

Enough intro, let's talk business :)

• Foundation

As for liquid foundation it is recommended to keep these stored about a half year to 1 year in your cupboard. Ingredients can dissolve or change causing this not give the same result you had when applied for the very first time.

• Blush

Powder blush can be stored rather long in your make up trolley. 12 to 18 months is a good amount to keep these in your collection. Remember that going in with a blush brush is far better than going in with your fingers, as hands always carry bacteries (yes, even after washing them!).

• Mascara

From all make up products, I think this is the one you should pay attention to the most. This tube gets very close to your eyes, and an eye infection is not cool at all. Mascara's can dry out easily as well form opening and closing it and those who push their brush into the tube constantly makes it dry even faster. If you're doubting whenever the expiry date is and it's dryer than normal or doesn't apply or give the same result, it's no longer good and it is recommended that you throw this away. They stay good for about 3 to 4 months.

• Eyeliner/lip liner

Liners are pretty much the survivors of the entire bunch. They can last up to 18 to 24 months. Yes, almost 2 years! Most liners contain ingredients that make them last longer. For those who only like to wear liners, you're lucky! :)

• Lipstick

Lip stick junkies can keep their items from 1 year to 1,5 year. Most people (not hoarders) can use their lippies up before expiring. It can be more dry than normal, but texture and pigment will remain just as good.

• Nail polish

This one's for all my polish people in the house :) Did you know that you can keep varnishes up to 2 years? I'm sure you've noticed a yellow varnish comes to the top when not used often. Just shake it up upside down and you're good to go. Inspite of some better quality varnishes, some can expiry faster than others. If it's dried out, you can put a drop of thinner and you're good to go again.

A great tip would be sticking a label mentioning the date you opened the product for the very first time. Just add the amount of months/years et voilà :)

Have fun experimenting, just remember to stay hygienic. Think we'd all rather throw way products than having an infection because you kept on using something far too long. Choice is yours... :)

Products I've used up January-February '14

Hello hello there!

I haven't posted anything in a while, but that doesn't mean that I haven't rigorously been using my beauty products. December, January and February have been very satisfying months when it comes to empties actually. Let's get right into it, shall we?

Lioele Auto Eyebrow

Lioele Auto Eyebrow in dark gray has been my HG eyebrow pencil for quite a while now. It's specific shape fits the eyebrow perfectly to color them in, and the color is just a perfect shade for my dark hair.

Fairy Drops Scandal Queen mascara

As for the eye balls, I have used up another Fairy Drops Scandal Queen mascara, because... they're awesome :) I like the fibres which make my eye lashes longer, the pigmentation makes my lashes look darker, the brush gives it volume and the waterproof formula holds up my short stubborn lashes. What more can a girl ask from her mascara? You can click on this link to get you some long lashes in a tube :)

L'Oréal BB Perfect base coat

L'Oreal Paris' base nail polish is a drugstore brand, but I think we all agree that it's not because it's a drugstore brand that's necessarily bad. Au contraire mes amies! This base polish has prevented my nails from turning into yellow and the consistency is just as good as a Chanel base coat, only I paid about 3/4 less money. Complaint? I don't think so!

Sally Hansen nail polish remover

Polish and nail polish remover go hand in hand of course. I've used this Sally Hanssen polish remover for a few months and I admit that this is one of my favorite polish removers so far. It gets the job done, it doesn't dry out my nails thanks to its moisturizing ingredients and the smell is way better than most acetons.

Batiste Tropical

Batiste Original: travel size

As for my hair, I often change my shampoo so my hair doesn't get used to a certain shampoo. Unfortunately my hair has its own way of life and likes to go to grease ball land every other day. To avoid washing my hair too often, I use dry shampoo on a regular basis. I have grown to like Batiste's dry shampoo. Here's the original and tropical version. I really like the original version, because there's no scent to it and it makes my hair like it has just been washed. If you'd like me to do a review on it, please comment below :)

Elvive Nutri Gloss hair mask

Next to using dry shampoo vigorously, I have finally used up my hair mask by Elseve. Man oh man, I don't often use hair masks treatments, but I have had that jar for YEARS! :D

This are the empties for this post. I'm already working on my next stash of empties, no worries :)
See you soon!

Products I've used up August '13

Welcome back my dear blog readers,

As you've read the title you know what to expect from this blog post. Today I'll be talking about my empties. Let's kick this into high gear, aight?

Koji Dolly Wink mascara

Lately I've been experimenting with mascara's and trying to figure out which mascara will do my lashes good. The Koji Dolly Wink volume mascara sure has done my lashes good :)

It's a simple black mascara that doesn't smudge, gives volume, gives me the natural look and has a cute packaging.

Vichy Normaderm

I've talked about this before. I mostly use this whenever I have a breakout. I have to admit that this worked very good in the beginning when I started off using this, but lately it just hasn't really done much. I'm not sure whether it's because it dried out a little bit. I already purchased another one. If that doesn't do the job anymore, I definitely won't be repurchasing it anymore.

Eucerin sun fluid SPF 50

Every summer my face becomes one big freckle, haha! I've become more aware of my skin condition this year and I started wearing SPF...finally! I saw this sample laying at my dermatologist's office and decided to give it a try. The word 'mattifying' got me over the fence. Don't you have the problem as well that a lot of SPF's leave a rather greasy feeling on your face? I'm not saying this one doesn't, but it's just not as bad as others. You may think the SPF 50 is rather high, but I prefer a high SPF for my face just to make sure no freckle gets through. Admitting that I haven't seen one new freckly appearing on my face, yay for SPF!



 

Signal White Now

I've been using this tooth paste for a few months now, and I must be hallucinating, but it's like my teeth are a little bit whiter than before. I'll be switching to another tooth paste, so I'll wait and see whether it was the tooth paste or not.
I liked the blue gel combined with the white. If you didn't know, if you have a blue sheen on your teeth it'll give the appearance of them being whiter.

Those were my empties of the month. I've been experimenting with a lot of products lately. I'm guessing this year my empties will be accumulating, so keep an eye for it if you like these kind of posts! :)



I've been using tons of goodies the last couple of months, so keep your eyed peeled for more empties posts! :)

Review CoverGirl LashBlastVolume mascara (waterproof)

Well hello there y'all :)

I recently FINALLY found a CG Lashblast Volume mascara in a store in Belgium, whoot whoot!
I've been looking for this mascara for about 2 years, as I refused to buy it online. I also purchased the CoverGirl Perfect Point Plus Eyeliner, on which a review (and in comparison to other eyeliners!) can be found here.

Anyways, back to the very well known orange tube of the make up world which has received an award for Best of Beauty 2012.

CoverGirl lashblastvolume waterproof mascara

First off: packaging is quite plain. It's a giant plastic orange tube with blue writing on it.

If you look at it closely, you'll notice a quite big brush. This will help you coat every lash on your eyelid and that's what we like, uhu!

You'll notice that the tube comes separately. You have to discard the bottle cap and replace that with the brush.
Simplistic, but I do appreciate the separate tube.
It gives me the feeling it's more hygienic (although it's probably not more hygienic than otherwise).





I have this mascara in 825 very black and it claims to give a lot of volume. And guess what? It actually does what it claims to do! This made my lashes look very natural, yet full enough.

I also like that this is suitable for contact lens wearers. I have quite sensitive eyes, and when wearing most drugstore mascara's the white in my eye turns red rather fast. I haven't had that problem with the LashBlastVolume.

As most of you know, unless you're a new reader of my blog (wherefore thanks for passing by), I have rather oily eyelids and unless the raccoon look becomes trendy, I'll stick to waterproof mascara's :) Waterproof make up is a must have with me!
Every waterproof mascara that can make it through the smudge test is a good mascara to me! And this CG mascara is a good mascara!

I'm not sure whether it's just my LashBlast, but do all CG LashBlasts apply a bit dry?
Wet mascara's smudge on me and some dry mascara's leave my lashes a "crunchy" feeling. This somewhat drier mascara holds up my curl, is soft to the touch and stays on for several hours. Overall, this baby is right up my alley and I cannot not recommend this! It's simply easy, breezy, beautiful, CoverGirl :)

My daily make up routine

Hi make up lovers!
Today I wanted to share my everyday make up routine. Just for your information, in spite of my obsession for make up and beauty tools, I actually don't wear make up that often, or at least not tons of make up.

I have a preference for the natural look, but I have experimented with some more for evening outings.

I mostly wear make make up when I have to work, or when I go out with friends. During the weekends I'm going au naturel to let my skin breath :)

Anyways, enough chit chat, let's jump right into it!

I like to work from the top down:

1. eyebrows
   

   

   Lioele auto eyebrow pencil - gray black

   
   

• I used to neglect my eyebrows. Frankly, I didn't care!
  Until beauty gurus started to tell more about eyebrows, I started to pluck my eyebrows in the shape I prefer and started to fill them in where needed.
• The Lioele auto eyebrow pencil has a gray black pencil on one side and a spooley on the other side.
2. lashes
   

   

   Shu Uemura eye lash curler

   
   

• Shu Uemura eye lash curler. Do I need to say more if I tell you I have typical asian eye lashes? They're short and stick straight. I NEED my eye lash curler to give that umph to my lashes.
  

  

  Fairy Drops Platinum waterproof mascara
  Maybelline Illegal Length non-waterproof mascara

  
  

• Afterwards I go over with some black mascara. Some of you know my HG is the Fairy Drops Platinum waterproof mascara. But I do like to experiment with non-waterproof mascara's as well. I have to admit, there not a lot of non-waterproof mascara's I like, but I have found one that is ... ok. It doesn't smudge too easily (but still does, especially I've been wearing it the entire day), and keep my lashes curled after putting on a coat of mascara. I present to you the Maybelline Illegal Length Fibre Extensions mascara. 
• The tube looks quite feminine. A slightly curved, long mascara with pink writing on it. 
• The thing which sold me? The fibres. I noticed there are fibres in it, but it doesn't contain as much fibres as the Fairy Drops does. 
• I have noticed that this mascara is rather wet. And although I prefer drier mascara's, this one is ... ok :)
3. concealer
   

   

   Essence coverstick - 05 matt beige

• I'm like any other young woman who has their occasional rush of hormones, and yes, I have break outs as well. I used to have a lot of acne, but never to the point that I had to see a dermatologist. No, I just dealt with it, because I know there are people with severe acne problems. I was lucky enough to not have that problem.
• Back then I never heard of the existence of concealer or foundation. Although I still don't wear foundation, concealer has become my best friend :)
• I've used high end concealers and drugstore concealers. I do have my favorites in high end and drugstore, but in the end, I'm not rich and I don't have sponsors who are kind enough to send me products. No, I'm not affiliated with any company and I buy everything with my own money. 
• I'm currently using a drugstore concealer, namely a coverstick from a drugstore brand Essence in 05 matt beige.
• On the little box it says the formula contains allantoin. For those who don't know what allantoin is, it's moisturizing, causes keratin to soften the skin and it heals the skin more quickly.
• It covers up my redness and blemishes, it turns out matt (great for my oily skin!) and I paid around 2€...SCORE!
4. lip balm
   

   

   Kiehl's lip balm

   
   

• If you know me, you'd know I'm super duper, over the top, totally ob-sessed with lip balms. I have tons of lip balms lying around in every room of the house. I cannot live without them...
• I like to slap on some of my Kiehl's lip balm #1, which I got with my Deauty box. Is it really that good as people claim it to be? I guess it's ok. Would I repurchase it? No. Why? Because it doesn't do miracles to my lips. Yes, it leaves it moisturized for the first hour I've put it on, but in the end I'm reaching for my other lip balms during the day anyway. I'm just trying to use it up.
• The biggest downside to this lip balm is probably that this does contain parabens. No thank you :)

Here it was, my daily make up routine!
Leave a comment if you liked this post and tell me what your essentials of the day are.

Have a wonderful day beauties!

Products I've used up May '13

Hi everyone!

I'm back with another blog post. Today I'd like to talk to you beauties about the product I've used up, aka empties post :)

Let's work from the top down:

• Schwarzkopf Gliss Kur hair repair anti-klit spray

This is a spray which prevents knots in your hair and makes your hair silky smooth. It says it adds shine, I don't really notice any difference when spraying this in my hair, but it does makes it easier for me to brush through my hair after putting this in my damp hair.

You'll notice there's a little bit of a white solutions lying on top of the pink solutions. Just don't forget to give it a good shake before usage.

Good to know: I've used mine for about 2 years before using it all up, uhu!

• Clinique anti-blemish solutions clarifying lotion 

I think most of you know what this is. This is the step 2 from the Clinique 3 steps line for handling blemishes. I don't use this on a daily basis, because I think it would be to harsh for my skin should I use it every single day. In the end, it does dry out my skin, and I don't like that tucked feeling on my face.

I just put some on a cotton pad and sweep it all over my face. It makes sure to clear all dead surface cells and reduces excess oil that can cause unclogged pores (be gone impurities!).

You'll notice white powder on the bottom of the bottle, shake it until it dissolves into the lotion. The white powder is actually a medicine to treat acne. Good stuff? Hell yeah!

Good to know: Reduce usage if dry patches occur.

• Bioderma solution for sensitive skin

This has been a huge hit in Hong Kong before coming over to Belgium and the States.

I use this as my daily toner, if I need a more abrasive toner I'll use the Clinique one. But, this one is very gentle on the skin. It cleanses and removes my non-waterproof make up.
It's like putting water on your skin, only bottled in a fancy packaging :)

Put some on a cotton ball and sweep it over your face, as simple as that.

Good to know: this does NOT remove waterproof make up

• Biotherm Aquasource gel for normal to combination skin

This has been my HG for a few years.

It gives enough moisture but didn't make my face feel greasy, thanks to the gel formula. 

A very good moisturizer for the summer, not so much during the colder months.

Since I'm using another moisturizer for the moment, I won't be able to buy this immediately for the summer time!

• Fairy Drops Platinum mascara in waterproof formula

Holy moly guacemole, my HG mascara!

Honestly, this mascara makes my stubborn short lashes look like I'm wearing false eye lashes!

You'll notice that the brush has a curvy wand, this lifts my eye lashes to make them even more curly.

It gives volume, lengthens them thanks to the fibers in it, but still gives a very natural look to the eye...A-MA-ZING!

I use the one in waterproof formula because if I don't use waterproof I'll end up with raccoon eyes. Sexy, I know!

• Lancôme bi-facil double action eye makeup remover 

Bi-Facil is one of the most known eye make up removers in the beauty industry. Notice that there are 2 different parts in the bottle: a more deep blue (oil) and a light blue (toner). You should shake the bottle to let the 2 mix and then put it on a cotton pad before pressing it against your eye. 

People say this doesn't leave any greasy film on the eyes, but I do notice that it does when you reach the end of the bottle. It may be normal, but I don't think this (rather expensive) eye make up remover.

I must admit that it does a good job, but it's not like that this is the only one eye make up remover that works. I've had cheaper versions that do the job as well.

Good to know: Get eye make up removers with both oil and toner, it makes the taking off your waterproof make up much easier!

• Colgate Max White One

Who doesn't want whiter teeth? I thought so...

I gave this Colgate tooth paste a try, but unfortunately this has let me down. Not only didn't I notice any difference in my teeth shade but sometimes it left my mouth not as fresh as I would like it to be.

I will not be repurchasing this one fore sure, which is a shame because I do like the other plain Colgate tooth pastes.

• EOS organic lip balm smooth sphere in pomegranate raspberry 

 

I learned about the EOS products thanks to make up vids on Youtube. These are probably one the most cute lip balms ever. Are they that good? Not really. It's not very moisturizing, but I'm a sucker for packaging and as soon as I smelled the scent, I was sold!

These come on different scents and yes, I have them all...

• EOS hand lotion in berry blossom

Another product from the same line; the EOS hand lotion. As you can see on the picture it says: paraben- free. Yay for anything which is free of parabens.

You have to admit that this hand lotion looks quite adorable, but man oh man, wait until you get a sniff of this hand lotion. It smells heavenly! And it doesn't only smell good, no no, it makes your hand soft as a baby's bottom!

It doesn't leave any greasy film on your hand and it moisturizes as hell. Hands down, one of the best hand lotions I've ever used.




I'm sorry I didn't put pictures up that I've taken myself, but I've thrown most of the products out the door before realizing I could write a blog post about it.

I'll try to collect them from now on makes it more personal :)

Comment below if you liked this post and tell me what empties would you repurchase?

Micro drugstore haul

Hey everyone!

I recently did some shopping because I wanted to try out some things, so let's get right into it shall we :)

Maybelline Illegal Length mascara - Rimmel Scandaleyes eye pencil - L'Oréal Color Riche: 207 Babydoll - L'Oréal Color Riche nail stickers

Maybelline Illegal Length Fibre Extensions Mascara:
As you might know I have the typical short, stick straight asian lashes. They can use all the volume and length it can get! After reading some reviews on this mascara, I decided to give this one a go. I usually buy asian mascara's, because in my head I'm thinking 'Well, if asians make it, they must be good for me because they understand what my lashes need' :D Might sound ridiculous, but I've been sticking to that theory for years. I tried to step out of the box, and give this Western mascara a go, haha!

It claims to give the lashes an instant extension effect, without any flakes thanks to the fibre-fix brush. It supposedly to give your lashes an extra length of 4 mm!!

I admit, this mascara is ok, but it still doesn't match up to the asian mascara's I have, for real. They hold my curl a little bit, but some lashes do droop down. Lengthwise, they do lengthen a bit, but definitely no 4 mm!
What I do like about this mascara is the formula: although it's a non-waterproof one, it doesn't smudge on me as bad as other mascara's do.

Tip: Don't let this mascara dry when putting several coats, otherwise it will clump.

Conlusion: I do prefer this mascara over other Maybelline mascara's, but they're not even close to being as good as asian mascara's.


Rimmel Scandaleyes waterproof eye pencil:
Apparently this eye pencil gets compared to the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Pencil. If you know that by buying 1 Urban Decay pencil you can buy 3 Rimmel pencils, you will be quite astonished :)

The staying power of this kajal pencil is darn good. And not just for a drugstore, but in general. The only thing I wish there could do, is release a pure black one. I bought the 002 sparkling black, because this was the only black they had. Do you girls might know whether there's a black one?

I'll keep this one short: I LIKE this pencil very much! :)


L'Oréal Color Riche nail polish in 207 Babydoll:
Most of you know by now that I love L'Oréal Color Riche's nail polishes. They're cheap, have a good variety of colors and they last quite a long time.

This shimmering pink recently caught my eye. It's a pretty pink that will girlify every outfit instantly. The only thing I'm scared of, is that this may look cheap on the nails. Guess you'll have to stay tuned for another NOTW to find out! :)


L'Oréal Color Riche nail stickers: 
I've put a blog post on these stickers, so feel free to check it out.
Long story short, I like the stickers as long as they're not too 'in your face'. Only downside to these are probably the pulling it off-part. This can dry/ruin your top layer of your nail. Besides that, they look pretty darn good!

So that was a haul for this time. If you girls have any recommendations for me you think I should try or I might like, don't be shy to leave a comment and fill me in. Have a good one everyone!

Favorites of the month: April 2012

April 2012, 'till never!
I had a great month: first dance lesson in years, first Emeli Sandé's concert, started working again, birthday, got to see my great friends, ... overall, great month!

I don't have a lot to show for this month, because I've been using a lot of the same products from last month.

Let's start off with eyebrows. I've always used drugstore eyebrow pencil, but unfortunately they were always a bit too brown for me. I just never found one that was a bit grey/light black, until I found this eyebrow pencil from Lioele...yay! It's got a pencil on one side and a spooly on the other side. Lovely pencil!

Lioele Auto Eyebrow pencil

Then off to eyelashes! I've tried a lot of mascara's, and I now know for sure that European drugstore and high end mascara's (YSL, Maybelline, Bourjois, Yves Rocher, ...) don't do the job for me. Asian mascara's on the other hand actually do keep my keep my eyelashes curled, lengthens and gives volume to them. One of my HG mascara is definitely the Fairy Drops mascara.

Fairy Drops Scandal Queen

Next up is blush! I've been a huge blush freak lately and I own mostly drugstore blushes aside from my MAC blush. I've read a lot of good reviews on the Shu Uemura Glow On blushes, so I decided to spoil myself with one of these babies! I intended to get the Soft Coral one, but the sales guy recommended me this pink one. If you want some more information on this one, go ahead and check out my review :)

 

Shu Uemura blush pink 30

And I'll end this fav of the month with nail polish! I was always the girl who loved neutral colors and was afraid of using brighter colors...until 2012! I love wearing bright colors on my nail such as red, brighter pink, green, blue, purple, ... all the colors of the rainbow :D If you've been reading my blog for a while, you probably know where I got these 2 Sasatinnie nail polishes from...yup, from Hong Kong! They have this huge drugstore called Sasa, and you can honestly find EVERYTHING there! It's been one of my must go's whenever I go to the other side of the world, haha!

Sasatinnie nail polish: left: P573 Rose - right: Q23

I must admit that it looks paler on the picture than in real life. It's this beautiful toned down hot pink...aah, just love it! But seriously, if anyone ever goes to Sasa...get these nail polishes. They need 2 coats, but they're cheap as hell and have an amazing color range!

Sasatinnie Rose

Anyways... that was it for this month! Hope you all enjoyed it and stay tuned for more beautilicious goodies! :)