Thailand haul

Hi everyone! I just got back from Thailand abut a week ago and I have done a little bit of shopping in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. I thought I'd share my beauty haul with you all, so let's go :)

Beauty haul

I wasn't quite sure which drugstores I'd ran into in Thailand, but seems like Boots is very popular there, so I just had to explore the store!

First thing I ran into were these blotting sheets. I've been using the Clean&Clear blotting sheets for years now, but I'm always on the look out for cheaper versions. These are the Aiko and the Gatsby blotting sheets.
I've heard the Gatsby are just as good as the C&C ones, so we'll see whether they can match the more expensives ones. The Aiko I just got because they were cheap :D

Gatby & Aiko blotting sheets

Next up are the cleansing strips by Biore. If you haven't heard of them yet, they're black nose strips which you stick to your nose to get rid of the blackheads on the nose. I think they're one of the better nose strips on the market for now.

Biore nose strips

You all know by now that I'm a lip junkie, so I jut had to check out their lippies. I ran into a Baby Lips Belgium hasn't released, which is the mango pie fragrance.

Maybelline Baby Lips. mango pie

Right next to it was the Maybelline Color Bloom lip balm, and since I've never heard about that I just had to grab it as well to give it a try.

Maybelline Color Bloom

Honestly I don't wear much blush, but everytime I see a pretty color on the shelves, I just can't restrain myself and I have to have it. This powder blush is a matte peachy color.

Revlon blush: Perfectly Peach

I got really excited when I saw this lying on the shelves: the Soap&Glory Hand Food. I've heard so many good things about this hand cream. There's a very sweet scent to it and reminds me of Dior's perfume.

Soap&Glory: Hand Food

My last item I got at Boots is the Cetaphil moisturiser. It's supposed to be a lightweight moisturiser with SPF. And after hearing so many people rave about this product, I just had to give this a go as well.

Cetaphil moisturizer

My next stop to do beauty shopping was 7/11. It's a little supermarket that sells pretty much everything: from food to beauty, they have it all.

I used products by the brand Ponds before and although I'm not their biggest fan, I really wanted to try out some of their facial products.
The pure white was very gentle on the skin and I quite liked it.

Pond's Pure White Deep Cleansing Brightening Facial Foam

Because I liked the product mentioned above, I wanted to get myself another Pond's product. Since I like mattifying products, I couldn't keep my eyes off of this facial foam, because of the words mineral clay. I used to experiment with clay before, but the results didn't turn out as I wanted them to be. We'll see what this can do to my face.

Pond's Oil Control Skin Mattifying Facial Foam

As I had a day off (no activities planned) I decided to had a pamper session and do my nails. I went and got a polish remover by the brand Joy Us. I can't ay it's the best polish remover ever. but it did the job...after a while :)

Joy Us nail polish remover

As I was in a hot country, I bought a deodorant. It's funny to see that the deodorants we have in Europe are the same in Asia, only Asians added the words 'extra whitening' to their products. Yes. Asians still like to be as pale as ever. It's all about their status after all...

Nivea Extra Whitening Anti-Perspirant

After hearing so any raving about this product, I just couldn't be left behind. This is a daily scrub to remove blackheads. It's a white creamy texture with yellow micro beeds in it.

Neutrogena Deep Clean Blackhead Eliminating Daily Scrub

On my last day I found out I had some 7/11 stamps left. 1 stamp equals 1 Baht, and since I had 31 stamps left over, I decided to use them up before leaving Thailand. I got 2 Clean&Clear miniature sizes of their Essentials line.

Clean&Clear Esentials: Foaming Facial Wash - Oil Control Toner

I also got a polish by Revlon, which I got at a very big drugstore. I don't really remembered the name, but most big brands were very cheap. Frankly, I don't have high hope for this polish but we'll see.

Revlon Nail Enamel: 220 Provoke

If you had noticed, I only bought products which are all or Western or Eastern, everything except Thai. Well, I accidentally bumped into Oriental Princess. This is a little boutique which has only beauty items that is as Thai as can be. I've heard about this store, and as it is affordable, it's not super cheap as in most drugstores. I got the Acnemise, an oil free moisturising gel.

Oriental Princes: Acnemise

On my last day we had some time to spare at the airport. Amd what do you do to kill time at an airport? That's right, you go duty free shopping :)

The first thing I picked up was an eyeliner by NARS. I've heard so many good things about this, and since my eyes are quite tricky to please, I splurged on a high end eyeliner to check whether it's worth the hype.

NARS Larger Than Life Long Wear Eyeline: Via Veneto

Second thing I got is another eyeliner, but this time it's a cheaper alternative. This should supposedly stay on for 16 hours, so I just had to put this one up to the test.

Revlon ColorStay Eyeliner: Charcoal

When I was already planning on leaving for my gate, I saw this in the corner of my eye and I was sold immediately. This is a travel exclusive little box containing 5 Baby Lips (jumping up and down).

Maybelline Baby Lips

And last but not least, I knew I would make a loss should I change my Bahts back into Euro's, so (and this may sound dumb), but I tried to use up all of my Thai money. When I saw this on the shelf, I've been hesitating to get it but I decided to pamper myself :) This is the V&R set: perfume, body lotion and shower gel. Although it's not much cheaper as in stores, unfortunately most stores are out of this set. (Yes, i was a valid excuse for me to get it)

Victor&Rolf Flowerbomb

This was my Thailand haul. I was hoping I would get much more, but I'm quite pleased with the end results after all. If you want me to do a review on any of these products, let me know in the comment bar below :) Lah gorn!

Top 5 lip balms

For those who know me, you had to see this top 5 coming :)
As for the newbies to my blog out there, I'm a lip balm junkie. I will buy pretty much every lip balm out there just to give it a try. I'm afraid of counting how many I have, because I think even I will be flabbergasted. So, let skip the count and jump right into my top 5!

5. Kiehl's lip balm #1
This lip balm has put its brand on the beauty map. I'm going to be honest, this is purely vaseline. But, I like to put this on my lips before going to sleep to hydrate my lips whenever they're chapped. I received this lip balm in my Deauty box a long time ago, and it's still one of my favorite products I've received from them. Not a bad product at all Kiehl's :)

Kiehl's lip balm #1

4. Maybelline Baby Lips
People have been raving about these Baby Lips in The States and in Asia like crazy. So, I can't not blame them for me wanting to try them, right? :) I've noticed that The States release other lip balms than in Asia. On my last trip to Hong Kong I grabbed about 6 Baby Lips (yes, 6!). If all those beauty guru's like it, I must like it! And yes, I'm weak like that :D

I must say, this is one of my favorite lip balms which are twistable and where you don't need to put your finger in it to get some of the product out. Plus, they smell goooood! I've seen that Maybelline's has released new Baby Lips and my hands are itching not to buy them online...

Maybelline Baby Lips:
left: Cherry
right: Berry

3. Nivea lip butter
I've never really liked Nivea, because they were always too greasy for me. The face cream was too thick and too oily, the body lotion just didn't do much for me. But since my lips can always use some moisture, I thought this time Nivea would be good for my lips. And I'm glad I was right :) These lip butters feel like butter (literally!). I usually slap this on my lips before going to bed so when I wake up my lips feel supersoft and moisturized. Nivea, you have done my lips proud!

Nivea lip butter: Vanilla & Macadamia

2. Smith's Rosebud Salve

Never did I expect to fall in love with a product as much as I did with this one. A few years ago I saw this on the counter one day and I was probably in the mood for 'I want to buy something to make myself feel better (don't tell me I'm the only one out there girls!). As soon as I used it for the very first time, I couldn't get enough of it. 2 years later, I have made a nice dent in my lip balm, but I still have a good amount of product. I got the strawberry scent since I'm a sucker for sweet scents. But honestly, a great investment!

Rosebud Salve lip balm

1. Korres lip butter
I haven't been into the beauty world that long, but one of the most talked about lip balms is the Korres lip butter. I just had to know what the hype was all about and I caved in to buy myself one. Man oh man... Let me tell you... this baby has changed my view on lip balms since I got this in my hands. No lip balm can beat this lip butter. It gives your lips a silky feeling, for those who don't like the greasy feeling on the lips. This does give your lips a little hint of color, but don't expect anything too bedazzling. Admitting that these aren't cheap, but let me tell you that they are worth the buzz in the beauty community.

Korres lip butter: Pomegranate

I don't mind if I feel the lip butters sitting on my lips, it makes me feel like they're actually doing something to them. The only thing I don't like about my top 3 is that you have to dip your finger into the little pots. It's quite unhygienic and you have to wipe off your finger afterwards (as in: wipe it off on someone you dislike, mwoehaha!). But frankly, in spite of the pots I still really like the formula of the top 3 lip balms. I guess you can use a lip pencil for every time you want to slap on some butter on those lips of yours, or you can have some wet towelettes on you to clean your hands with. Up to you!

top 10 drugstore products under 10 euro

Well hello there,

Are you like me and nosy to know what 10 products are good and affordable? Please, make yourself comfortable and let those eyeballs work! FYI: These products aren't in any particular order :)

As you may have seen, if I have to give you a list of goodies I like to work from the top down, so let's kick it into high gear shall we?

Maybelline 24h Color Tattoo - 9,99€
These babies are the B.O.M.B.! They come in a wide range of colors, they stay on for about 6 to 8 hours, don't crease (don't forget I have super oily eyelids y'all) and they're affordable. This was my go to product last year. Just keep in mind that depending on which country you live in the names of the Color Tattoos may vary.

top: 35 Tough as Taupe
left: 65 Pink Gold - right: 35 On and On Bronze

Essence STAYS No matter what waterproof eyepencil - 1€
I like to tightline (=lining your waterline). I don't like to line my eyes, because it doesn't give the appearance to having bigger eyes as good as I want it to be. It's a subtle line but it makes a huge difference to the eyes, if you ask me. I have trouble finding a good, affordable eyepencil, and I have found a Japanese eyepencil, but since they're not easy accessible I have to find ways to keep an eye out for pencils of which I can get a hold of easily. This waterproof eyepencil will wear out during the day, but for the first few hours this looks pretty darn good. The good thing is that this smudge just a teeny tiny tad, but it gives your eyes more of a sultry look than a panda look.

Essense STAYS no matter what: 01 Midnight Black

Essence coverstick - 1,99€
My cheapest concealer ever. I 'm not going to say that this is my best concealer I own, but it's in my to 3 for sure. It leaves a matte finish and the stick makes it easy to apply. The only negative point about this? It can melt quite easily due to the cheap packaging. Just leave it in a cooler place for a while and the concealer is good to go!

Essence coverstick: 05 matt beige

Rimmel Stay Matte long lasting pressed powder - 9,99€
Who of the oily faced girls doesn't like matte? This powder will leave you face matter than matte :) Plain packaging with the lid on top, although I do prefer a lid which is attached to the powder. Cheap packaging, but good face stuff!

Rimmel Stay Matte pressed powder: warm beige

Bourjois Color Boost - 9,99€
I've posted a blog blabber on this product before, so you can click here to give it a read so I don't repeat myself. Long story short? I love this! Great colors, great pigmentation& affordable!

Top down:
01 Red Sunrise
03 Orange Punch
04 Peach on the Beach

NYC Applelicious Glossy lipbalm - 2,79€ (356 Big Apple Red)
Another tinted lip balm I've fallen in love with. This moisturizes your lips, gives it a lovely color and smells so goooood! The color is buildable and go on from a sheer red (one application) to a brighter red (3 or 4 applications). I like the sheer red because I've only recently learned to wear colored lip. This is my go to red for fancy occasions :)

NYC Applelicious Glossy lipbalm: 65 Big Apple Red

Nivea Pure Effect Peel Soft Mild Scrub - 5,99€
This leaves the face matte. The scrub contains little beeds that are very gentle for the skin and aren't abrasive at all. You'll need about a pea size amount for each wash. I've purchased mine about a year ago and I'm guessing I'll be able to use mine until the end of the year :)

Catrice nail polish - 2,99€
Catrice is one of my favorite drugstore brands for nail polishes, because they always have fun colors and their monthly collections are always fun to look at. One of my favorite polishes is from this brand: click here to check out a swatch. Some of their polishes do require 3 coats, but so do more expensive polish brands. I'd rather buy more Catrice polishes than 1 famous make up brand. Go Catrice!

Catrice: Walk On Air

HEMA nail polish - 2,95€
I'm not sure whether HEMA is known outside of Belgium and the Netherlands, but their polishes are good enough for me. They stay on for a good week, 5 days if you're a very busy (wo)man :) If you're wondering what it looks like on the nails, check out the swatches here! The wide variety of colors sucks me in every time, and the quality is just as good as some of the more expensive brands.

HEMA: 808

Garnier body calming gel L-bifidus Peach extract for dry&sensitive skin - 3,99€
You're probably wondering: gel for dry&sensitive skin? You? But you keep on whining on how oily your face is? Well, surprise surprise! My body has rather dry skin and after showering I need this baby to lock in some moisture before I become a dry banana!

Garnier Intensive calming gel

These were my 10 favorite products. I have always wanted to a blog post like this online because it just shows that great quality goodies can be found in drugstores as well!


Recently my fingers have been itching to set up a '5 products of each make up category'. So stay tuned for those blog posts! :)

Hits & misses Jan-Jun 2013

Well hello there everyone and welcome back to my blog.

Today I'd like to share my hits & misses of the former month. I recall putting up a favorites of the month post last year for June 2012. I can't believe it's already been a year since I posted my favorites. Talked about consistency...woopsie!

Anyway, last month there were products I liked, but there were products I didn't like as well, so I decided to put a blog post on my hits&misses.

Let's cut the chit chat and jump right into it, shall we?

Hits

This month my lips have been dry as ever! It even dried out to the point that my corners started to crack which hurt like heck whenever I tried to open my mouth. I decided to put some Nivea lip butter on the lips so my lips could suck up all the moisture. It's not completely healed yet, but I'm getting there... As the name doesn't gives it away already, the formula is like butter, it's very creamy lip balm. Plus, it tastes so good, haha!

 

Nivea lip butter - vanilla & macadamia

Recently I caved in and bought some Embyolisse products. I'm still on the fence about the lait-crème on which I'll do a review soon, but I have been liking the hydra-mat emulsion.
It's a gel for normal and mixed skin which leaves the skin soft and matte.
It supposedly to leave the skin matte because it contains a natural derivative of corn starch which will absorb excess sebum and will reduce the shininess on your face. The apricot oil will tone and boost the skin and it contains the antioxidant vitamin E as well.

I've been liking it so far, although it doesn't keep my face matte ALL day long. I'm one happy chappy for this product keeping me matte for half the day!

Embyrolisse hydra-mat émulsion

If you've read my last year's favorites, you know by now I've been using the Clarisonic for almost a year now, and yes, I'm still a huge fan of this tool. It takes the dead skin cells off for me to look fab, hahaha! And I still like to combine my Clarisonic with my Bioré Acne gentle care oil control facial foam.

I've been treating my skin with love, but no product can keep those hormonal breakouts away. Here's when the Vichy Normaderm comes in, on which I've already done a review.
This baby dries out the imperfection so you can swing by life zit free, hahaha!

Vichy NormaDerm

Next to skin care products I do have a make up item to mention as well. I don't often think a product is wow-this-knocks-my-socks-off-like-nothing! But, I'd like to take the time to praise the one who made the Jealousness waterproof gel eyeliner (my review on it can be found here). This is the only eyeliner that will stay put on my waterline. As soon as you've put this into your waterline, it will not budge or whatsoever.

You probably know by now I have very oily eyelids and this causes for any eye product to give me panda eyes as the day goes by. Luckily this Jealousness eyepencil does NOT go anywhere unless you've want differently :)

I got mine in BK (black), but there are 6 other shades as well. And don't worry, one swipe of this eyepencil and you'll have a very pigmented waterline already.

Frankly, this is by far the best eyeliner I've ever used. For those who would like to give this baby a try, check out this website to get a hold of this eyeliner (Disclaimer: I'm not being sponsored for doing this blog post. All opinions are my own.)

Jealousness waterproof gel eyeliner - BK (black)

As I'm going from the top down, let's talk about nails :)
I've been ob-sessed with pastel colours recently. I still like to wear bold colours, but for some reason I always go back to my pastels.

Recently I've been rocking Diorlisse by Dior like crazy. It's a beautiful pastel pink colour which looks classy and put together, and will match with pretty much every outfit you wear.

And if I'm feeling like going crazy, I'll go pastel purple with Essie's Go Ginza! ;) It's a gorgeous lila that give your nails that hint of colour but still doens't look overdone.

As for my last hit of the month, let me just take a minute (and spray on some more, haha!). I'm talking about the Victor&Rolf's perfume called Flowerbomb.

Victor&Rolf - Flowerbomb

I accidentally picked up this bottle, smelled, sprayed and fell in love.

I never heard about this perfume before when I reached for this perfume bottle. As soon as I sprayed it, a magic of scents spread all over me and made me fall head over heels with this perfume.

As I suck at describing scents I looked it up and apparently it contains the following:
Notes: Sambac Jasmine, Centifolia Rose, Cattleya Orchid, Ballerina Freesia, Patchouli.
Style: Oriental. Gourmand. Floral.

It starts off quite sweet and dries down to a sweet, slightly vanillic dessert of amber and patchouli. The name Flowerbomb is suite misleading, as I don't smell a strong flower scent. Be assured that you don't have to like flowers to likes this perfume. If you're a lover of slightly sweet perfumes, this will be right up your alley.

Since every up has its down:

• quite expensive
• unfortunately the scent doesn't last very long on you

Nevertheless, this won't stop me from loving this perfume. Flowerbomb is the BOMB!

 

Misses

I have some dark spots on my face and when I saw these products I was too weak to pass it off. They're Garnier products which will treat dark spots, yeah right...

Garnier Dark Spot Corrector Daily Illuminating Moisturizer - Garnier Anti-Dark Spot Renovator Night

I'm not going to say that I expected immediate results, but these products just didn't do ANYTHING for my skin. The left one left my skin quite oily and the right product was just some gel I put on my skin before going to sleep. No no no, I won't be using these anymore.


Let's stick to the face and talk about another moisturizer. Yes, I did experiment quite a bit with moisturizers. I like to bring up the Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel on which I've already done a review.

I've heard so many people raving about this product. People who have combination to oily skin. I know by now that most gels work better for oily skins, but this was a bit too harsh for my skin.

Whenever putting this on, it moisturized my cheek area, but it dried out my chin area after 5 minutes. This forced me to put another layer of this gel or to put another moisturizer on the drier sides of the face.

I'm aware that some people use 2 different moisturizers for their face, but I like to use just one.

Besides, this gel had a rather chemically smell to it when applying. Luckily this disappears after the gel has soaked into your skin.

I'm not a fan of this Clinique product and has actually left me quite disappointed.

Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel

A few years ago I used the pore strips from Bioré. Apparently they changed their packaging, but I like to stick to products I know that work (normally...). I've been using the nose strips a few times and I'm not sure whether my little box is a bad one, but it just ... sucks! The date says it hasn't expired yet, so I'm hoping that mine is just a fault box.

Every time I use this, the white serum keeps sticking to my nose and when pulling the strip from my nose, the strip doesn't come off as one. The sticky side stays on my nose causing me to wash it off instead of tearing it off. It just didn't work at all. I can't do anything to help the product to come off more easily, because the strip is just too weak to be torn off.

A very big disappointment after being ecstatic for years about this product.

Bioré Pore pack

Last but not least, let's talk make up!
Who doesn't know CoverGirl? They're known for their Lashblasts and their red lipstick that Taylor raves so much about (for money, but still).

When I saw this eyeliner, I just had to pick it up, because who knows this is another great CG product. Well, it's not.

CoverGirl Perfect Point Plus eye pencil - 205 charcoal

I hoped this would be a dupe for my Benefit BADgal liner waterproof eye pencil, but unfortunately this smudged after wearing it for 2 minutes! No lie: I put it on my waterline, put the eye pencil in my bag, checked my phone for messages, looked into the mirror and saw a panda looking right back at me!

Luckily Taylor Swift isn't promoting this eye pencil, unless she's a panda look lover :)


These were my hits and misses for the first half of this year. What are your favorite products and what products do you really dislike and wouldn't recommend to anyone?

Review Nivea deodorant

Hello there!

I'm back with another review...

As you've read the title (otherwise you probably you won't even have clicked on this blog post, hehe), I like to share my opinion with you on a Nivea deodorant.

Nivea extra whitening deodorant

I'm not really sure whether this is being sold in the States, but I'm pretty sure this is not sold in Europe. I bought this in Hong Kong.
Europe has the pearl&beauty version. (for those who speak Dutch, check this link out)

You've probably noticed the 'extra whitening' writing. As most of you know, Asians just ADORE any products which can make your skin whiter. The paler, the better, is pretty much their motto! :)

What does it says on the bottle?

• whitening & smoothens skin
• tightens pores
• anti-perspirant protection
• 48 hours reliable
• quick and long lasting dry feeling

This 50ml roll on deodorant has a see through plastic cover and you can see a milky liquid in it. I've used a lot of deodorants and I have to admit that this does NOT work any better than other deodorants. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad deodorant, it's just ... not better. The big question on this product is: does this really whitens as it claims? No, I don't think so.

As I like to smell good, I'll definitely use this all up, but I probably won't be repurchasing this as I prefer spray deodorants.

What do you prefer: sprays or roll ons?

Butter 'em up please!

Nivea lip butters

Hi everyone!


Recently Nivea launched a few lip butters (I'm sure you've heard of them by now, but I still wanted to give a little review on them). I've heard that these have become a HG for some people out there, so as a huge lip balm freak, I  just had to give these babies a go.


There are 4 different scents:
the original, vanilla & macademia, caramel cream and raspberry rosé.


I got 2 of the lip butters, namely the vanilla & macademia and the raspberry rosé. (2 tins on the right)

Pro's:

• contains shea butter and almond oil, which makes it easy to glide on the lips
• lovely scent
• 4 different kinds to choose from
• although it's a tin, the cap is easy to take off

Cons:

• tin, which makes it quite unhygienic. You have to dip in with your finger to apply the lip balm.
• leaves milky cast which needs to be blend out
• absorbs just a little bit (it's mostly sitting there to protect the lips) 

Maybe these would be even a better success if they would come out in a stick form, since a lot of those beauties are quite fond of their hygiene :p

I must say, I've limited to using these at night because of 1. the milky cast and 2. I like the buttery consistency, but since it doesn't absorbs very easily I rather let them sit on my lips overnight to make them soft to start the day. (and yes, I do' apply other lip balms during day)

As you can see, these have their pro's&cons.
I like them, but I don't absolutely love them

Is this my HG? No.
Would I repurchase them? No.

Overall, they're ok, but not THE best lip balms I've tried :)