Products I've used up November '13

The end of the year is nearing and so it is for the products I've been using vigorously.
In this blog post I'll take you through the products I've emptied or are about to empty :)

Since I've bought so many moisturizers for the face, I just had to use some up before I allow myself to go all crazy over moisturizers. This Shiseido Pureness mattifying moisturizer is oil free and has kept me semi matte. After a few hours the oils in my face have come out, but I do need a pretty hardcore mattifying product to keep my oils at bay. For that, I'm glad to have used, but I'm also very glad that this is used up. Now I have another excuse to be on the look out for a new moisturizer, haha!


Second item up is my lip scrub by Lush. I got the Gourmandise flavor, which is a chocolate scented one. I know you can easily make your own lip scrub, but I like to go all fancy and buy one with the nice scent to it.

 

Lush lip scrub: Gourmandise

 

 

 

If you've seen my NOTW's passing by, you probably wouldn't be surprised I used up base coat and a top coat. I've been using the Quick Dry Base Coat by Revlon for my nails and a Sally Hansen Insta Dri Top Coat. I have to admit that they're both not entirely empty. You know how most polishes can dry up when you're nearing the end and they start get al guppy. Yeah, that's what happened with my base and top coat. 

Being a lip balm hoarder it is very likely for me to actually finish a lip balm. But if it happens, it must be because I really like the balm. I've had this lip balm for almost 2 years, but meanwhile I've cheated on this Baby Lips with other lip balms. During October and November I rediscovered this lip balm because my lips were chapper than chapped, haha! This Baby Lips is the Asian version, has a sweet cherry scent to it but doesn't have any color pigmentation. Baby Lips, you've won over my heart!

Maybelline Baby Lips
 

These were the empties for this month! I'm sure there are still a lot of empties blog posts to come, because I have a lot (and I mean A LOT) of products laying around waiting for me to use up. Stay tuned for more empties posts :)

Review Murad Oil control mattifier

Well hello there, hope everyone is doing well today out there :)

In this blog post I'll be talking about a mattifier, yes... I got another one for try out.

When I buy any beauty item I make sure I do my research on the product: how did other people think of it, can I get it any cheaper elsewhere, will it work for me? All sorts of questions to make sure whether the product will do me good and to see whether it's worth investing my money.
Unfortunately I have had my bad purchases after doing sufficient research, but I got to add great products to my collection as well.

Talked about great products, let's have a chat about the Murad Oil control mattifier. Boys and girls, I LOVE this!!

Anyone who has oily skin out there, not just a little glow on the skin that others call a healthy glow. No no, I get so oily that I can often use 2 blotting sheets. People can make money of my face because it looks like oils are about to burst out any minute. Anyway, you get the point :)

Please do note that this best not for those with dry to normal skin as this can emphasize the dry patches on the face. 

You get 50ml in a tube. And this tube must look like one of the cheapest packagings I own. It's a white plastics tub with some black and blue writing on it.
I do pay attention to packaging, but since this product is so darn good, I don't really care about it. Hey, didn't they tell us not to judge a book by its cover? :)

Once you squeeze a bit out, it comes out quite creamy. Do bare in mind that you only need about half a pea size amount! So I'm hoping that this will last me for a while.
I apply some on my forehead, both cheeks, nose, chin and the remainder I apply next to my nose on my T zone where I get the oiliest the most.

Basically it's a moisturizer with SPF 15 that will reduce shine, read: reduce. This will not suck up the oils out of your face, but it will control the oils for up to 8 hours.

This has done 3 things to my skin:

• oil control
• UV sun protection
• matte finish

After about 6 hours, I checked whether I had to blot, but surprisingly enough I had a subtle sheen on my nose, which people like to call that healthy glow.
And as long as other people's faces don't reflect in the oils of my face, I don't feel the need to blot, haha!

I got mine at FeelUnique for 37€, that's about 49$. You say WHAAAATTT?!? And yes, I have to admit, this is expensive as hell. I'm the kind of girl who almost never invests in high end products, so I thought I could get myself this one. (This might not be a super famous brand, but keep in mind that high end brands such as Chanel, YSL, Dior, ... sometimes just don't work for others)

In spite of the price, I think this product has reached my top items in my beauty collection. I know it's not cheap, but it has be the only product that I have tried that will actually keep me matte throughout the day.

I will be repurchasing this, but I will use this mattifier very sparingly as money doesn't grow on my back :p

Have you tried this? If so, please share your view on it! :)

Review Bioderma moisturising mattifying fluid

I'd like to speak in the name of most oily-faces girls out there that we're constantly looking for a good matte moisturizer. It's not because we have oily faces that we don't need moisturizer. Au contraire, we need to moisturize our skin as well.We just need to make sure we don't use products that will add oil to out face since we produce enough of our own, but we cannot use too harsh face products that will totally strip the oils of our face. This will cause your skin to dry out for a while, and it may look good for about an hour, but you're giving your skin the message: Oh oh, dry skin? Need to product oil to make it balanced! Do make sure to read the labels very carefully before buying or applying it to your face. I'd say: try, try and try! It's not because a certain product works for your friend that it will work for you as well. Everyone has a different skin type. AND, it's not because one product for person A with oily skin will work for person B as well.

As for my rambling introduction to this blog post, I'd like to give you my opinion on this Bioderma moisturizer:

Bioderma sébium mat moisturising mattifying fluid

If you haven't heard of Bioderma before, it stands for Biology at the service of Dermatology. They have a wide variety of skin range, color accorded. Check out their website to see what colour range you're in.
The first time I've heard of Bioderma was when I was in Hong Kong. I saw these translucent bottles with a red detail (indicates sensitive skin) pretty much everywhere. When I came back to Belgium, I did some research to check out what the fuss was about. Turned out they were micellar solutions that cleanses, removes make up from and soothes the skin. I won't get too much into it, but if you'd like to read some more on it, click here.

During the summer I'm mostly on the look for a gel-like moisturizer because it's lighter for my skin to absorb. But when I saw this, I just had to try it, and I must say...I actually really like this :)

It has the green detail on it which is for those with combination or oily skin. On the bottle it claims to neutralize areas which are prone to shine. Long lasting moisturizing and anti-shine skin care for combination or oily skin. Its fluid texture is quickly absorbed. Does not flake off. The skin remains clear, soft and perfectly matte all day long.

It comes out as a white cream, but it's very light and it sinks into the skin rather fast. I apply it on my T-zone every morning and I have to say that I do stay matte for half the day, not for the entire day as it claims to do. I have to admit I'm quite satisfied with it staying matte for half the day, because most moisturizers force me to blot after 2 hours or so.

Since this product is only available in certain stores, it's quite difficult to get a hold of it in Belgium. If you don't have very oily skin, give this one a try.

I'm quite happy with this, but will continue my search for my HG moisturizer to combat my combination skin to oily skin :)

Review Vichy Aqualia Thermal

Hi beautifoes! :)

I'll be doing a short review on a moisturizer today. I've been using this moisturizer for the past couple of months and since the summer's just a few weeks ahead of us, I thought it would be appropriate to review this baby.

I'd like a few minutes of your time to tell you something about the following moisturizer:

Vichy Aqualia Thermal moisturizer

It says that this is for those with sensitive skin among us. It will hydrate your skin for about 48 hours and it's paraben-free. I've chosen this because it's for normal to combination skin.

Does this measure up to what it claims?

Yes, it moisturizes my skin. Whether it lasts for 48 hours, is quite difficult to say since I do wash my skin every morning and evening... I guess I'll never be able to properly review the 48 hours hydration.
I have to admit that it does feel quite light, I don't feel anything heavy laying on top of my skin and your skin does sucks up all the moisturizer it can :) Next to that, it doesn't leave any grease on my skin, which is always nice since I have a super oily skin.

A good thing about this is that you don't need a lot to moisturize your face. Always good to have your money's worth, since the tube contains 40ml. 

Overall, I do prefer something which leaves my skin matte, so as I do like using this and I will use this all up, I will not be repurchasing this goodie.

Maybe this is good for those who are looking for a typical moisturizer without any specials needs?

Review: Clinique dramatically different moisturizing gel

Hi there!

Thanks for stopping by and give your eyeballs a treat by reading this review.
I'm sure you've heard of the Clinique dramatically different moisturizing gel. If you haven't, you're probably a beauty newb who's trying to find decent moisturizer.

Before I start of rambling about this product, let me tell you something a little bit more about my skin.
As I hit puberty I had horrible skin (acne which left my face filled with acne scars..boooooo!). After having the worst skin period ever, my skin started too clear up with occasional break outs during that time of the month!
Nowadays I have a combination skin, meaning oily T-zone with normal cheeks but with dry patches here and there. If that's not a combination skin, then I'm absolutely clueless!

When buying a moisturizer, I mostly lean towards using a gel. Not only gives it a more cooling effect, gel is the only form of moisturizer that can handle my oily skin.

Let's go back to the product, shall we?

After using up myAquasource Moisturizing Skin Care Gel cream by Biotherm, I wanted something new since my skin got used to the Biotherm.

I've read so many reviews on the Clinique moisturizing gel, so I thought I'd give this one a go.

Clinique dramatically different moiturizing gel

• 125 ml (4.2 fl.oz.)
• combination oily to oily skin
• comes with a pump
• fragrance free

When I first started using this, I didn't really like it. It was kind of harsh on my skin, didn't moisturize enough having me to re-apply a second coat after 5 minutes, ...

I will use this bottle up, but I won't be repurchasing it.
I'm not sure whether this moisturizer is a bit too rough on my skin, but I do know my skin didn't really appreciate this Clinique product.

I'm already eying another moisturizer and cannot wait for it to give that one a try!
If you're interested in knowing which one I'm going to use, please leave a comment :)

Have a wonderful day you beauty lovers!