Chanel nail polish: Distraction

How ironic that I mentioned in my former post blog that I don't own high end products aside from Shu Uemura and MAC. As you've noticed by reading the title, I'm officially the owner of a LE Chanel nail polish. Woo hoo!

A very good friend gifted me this nail polish. She let me tried it to see whether I liked it or not. Turned out I really liked the color, the creamy texture and especially the subtle fuchsia shimmer in it. But what really got me over then fence was that it didn't chip AT ALL,not even a little default. So that's where the money goes..on longevity? :)

I went to the store because I was planning on getting it, but it wasn't available anymore at the store I could get to. Was disappointed, but I got over it. It's a nail polish for crying out loud! :) But I have to admit I am quite happy that my friend got this as a bday present for me!  Hip hip hooray for friends!!

It looks quite pink from the pic above, but it's more of a coral pink as you can see below. It's simply THE perfect color for spring/summer! And if you turns your hands in the right angle, you'll notice some occasional fuchsia shimmer peeking out!

Shu Uemura MINI-haul

Hi beauties! It's been a while since I posted something. It doesn't mean I haven't purchased anything meanwhile, I just haven't found the time to write a decent post blog.

Anyways... I went shopping at Shu Uemura yesterday and may I just say: yay for the nice salesman! He was very friendly, I felt he was honest, gave good advise, answered all my questions and he gave me a free made up face to start the shopping day! :)




I only bought 2 items at Shu Uemura, because I got an eyelash curler and concealer when I was in HK before. I did get a sample of cleansing oil for me to try.







First thing I got was a blush. I've been looking for an everyday blush, and I instantly fell in love as soon as the sales guy put it on me! I've read pretty good reviews on the Glow On blushes, so I was eager to try it. The Pink 30 is a matte peachy pink blush. It's a subtle, everyday blush and has a good color pay off. I'm always quite hesitant to try a pink blush, but I must say that this blush complements my yellow undertones very well.

All good and well, but there is one downside to this product: it's quite pricey! You get 5g, but I'm someone who doesn't use blush every single day, so I can see it as a little investment. Normally I can use this goodie for about 2 years, if not longer!

Glow On blush: Pink 30

Then we have our second Shu goodie: our eyeshadow. It's a taupe eyeshadow which I can use all over my eyelids or put it in my eye socket. A simple eyeshadow, but again.. since I don't use make up on a daily basis, I'm sure I can use this eyeshadow for a VERY long time.

M Beige 835

Since I only got these items yesterday, I haven't gotten the chance to properly use the cleansing oil. As soon as I've tried it a couple of times, I'll be posting a review on it here.

I don't own a lot from Shu Uemura: I own an eyelash curler, Pro concealers, blush and an eyeshadow. I have to admit I really like their products. Yes, they are on the pricey side, but the quality is definitely there. I'm not someone who buys these high end items every month. The Shu Uemura goodies are my only expensive products. Next to these I mostly own drugstore goodies.

Evolution of Smooth

EOS, who hasn't heard of the brand before?

I thought I went crazy when I bought 3 eos lip balms at once. You can't blame me, they just look freakishly darn cute! :) But then I saw beauty guru's buying 4 or 5 at the same time. Somehow it gave me peace of mind.

The second I tried my first one, I regretted I didn't buy the other ones... So I went online to get myself some other eos goodies. So let's hydrate those lips and hands and get typing!

Summer Fruit - Strawberry Sorbet - Honeysuckle Honeydew - Sweet Mint - Passion Fruit
Berry Blossom

As you can see I have 5 of the 7 lip balms: there's summer fruit (red), lemon drop spf 15 (yellow), strawberry sorbet (pink), honeysuckle honeydew (green), medicated tangerine (orange), sweet mint (blue) and LE passion fruit (purple).

It says they moisture your lips, and I think that they do but unfortunately not for long. You have to keep re-applying the balm. I have to admit that I bought these because I had a weak moment. Sometimes, just sometimes, I can be a real sucker for packaging! :) The thing about this lip balm that it has a twist-off top. Cute? Yes! Convenient? Not really... If you accidentally put the cap on too fast without looking you can dent the lip balm itself, shoot! But on the bright side, they do moisture as soon as you put some on! Other good things to mention? They're paraben and petrolatum free!

Their advice? Twist off top. Pucker up. Smooth on. Smile.

Then we have our hand lotion. Let me sum up this lotion in one word: incredible! 

I really like this hand lotion. Now, I don't have a ton of hand lotions, so I'm not saying this is a HG! It works for me, so I'll be content :)

There are 3 different scents: original, cucumber and berry smoothie. They're for all skin types, smell great, hypoallergenic, moisture, fast absorbing and just fab! No cons for this baby! I'm sure I'll be repurchasing this as soon as I'm finished with my berry blossom.

Their advice? Smooth on. Touch. Smile.

Nail polish collection

I have to admit: I have a nail polish addiction but hey in my defense, which girl hasn't? Every time I see a cute color I just have to get it. And yes, the colors may look a like, but no, they're not exactly the same color :)

Let's start off with Bourjois:

One coat of the 16 and 15 will do, but you will need 2 coats to get an opaque color from 13.

They have a creamy consistency and are an okay price for a nail polish.

FYI:

16: red/coral

25: pink/coral

13: baby pink

16 - 25 -13

Then Catrice:

I simply love these nail polishes: they're creamy, have a great selection of colors and they're SO cheap!

FYI: 

no030 My Café Au Lait At Nôtre-dame (nude)

CO2 Nude from Female collection (spiced pink)

no210 Just married (shimmery baby pink)

no520 Apropos Apricot (pastel orange)

no510 Bye, Bye birdy (pastel yellow)

no540 Am I blue or green (mint)

no200 From dusk to dawn (grey-brownish)

no190 Wrapped around my finger (dark fushia)

no170 I Scream Peach (coral)

CO2 Walk On Air from Hidden World collection (peachy with purple shimmers)

030 - CO2 Nude - 210 - 520 - 510 - 540 - 200 - 190 - 170 - CO2 Walk on Air

China Glaze:

I've heard so many good things about it, and to be completely honest... I don't like them as much as most beauty guru's do. I simply don't like the formula and they can be quite expensive in Belgium. Sad thing about it: they chip so easily on me!

FYI:

735 Skate night (sparkly bordeaux)

001 Wild Mink (spicy dark pink)

CGW235 Outrageous (hot pink)

35 - 001 - CGW235

The nail polish brand I was very excited about to having them in Belgium as well is Essie:

These nail polishes are very creamy, but again I liked them, but didn't love them like crazy. Unfortunately they chip easily on me as well :(

FYI:

74 Tart Deco (coral)

23 Eternal Optimist (spicy nude)

205A Brooch The Subject (nude)

14 Fiji (baby pink)

203A Cocktail Bling (grey)

74 - 2 - 205A - 14 - 203A

Let's talk about some drugstore ones from Hema:
For a drugstore these nail polishes are actually quite good. You'll need 2 coats of this, but on the other hand..sometimes a high end polish requires 2 coats as well. With a good topcoat they last for about a week, which is acceptable for a drugstore product! If there'd be any other color I'd like, I will continue on buying these!

FYI:
Unfortunately they don't have names, so I'll just mention a short description of the color.

front row:

pastel pink - pink - burgundy- black

back row:

jade - dark purple with purple shimmers - burgundy - red - hot pink - spiced pink - pink with silver sheen - shiny nude - nude (base coat) - translucent (top coat)

Another drugstore brand which is more known all over the world, L'Oréal:

These 2 are from the L'Oréal Color Riche collection and they're available in a wide range of colors. They're creamy, give a good coverage and are simply gorgeous colors!

FYI:

no601 French Riviera (mint with blue sparkles)

no305 Dating Coral (coral)

601 - 305

I'm not a big fan of Nivea nail polishes, but I do quite like the following nail polishes:
They say they're shock resistant, but I don't notice any more or less dents if I'd accidentally bump into something.They do last quite a long time and the Lilly Gloss does really shine brighter than bright...LOVE it!

FYI: 

06 Rose (pastel pink)
25 Pink Blossom (light pink)
17 Amarettini (nude)
99 Lilly Gloss

06 - 25 - 17 - 99

Another brand which was raved about on the internet: OPI:

Since the price is quite high, I only tried one product from this brand. The consistency is okay, but I wouldn't purchase any other OPI nail polish.

FYI: 

Lincoln Park After Dark (dark purple)

Lincoln Park After Dark

No nail polish collections of mine would be completed without any Asian drugstore brands, namely Sasatinnie:

The milky polish is actually the only pink pastel I really like, because it's so cheap and 1 coat of this and you're good to go.

FYI:

P573 Rose (bright pink)

Q23 (sparkly milky)

P573 - Q23

The last brand I'll be discussing is the Sinful Colors nail polishes.

I love these nail polishes: creamy texture, color range, last long, price is okay.

FYI:

front row:

M808 Flirting Nails (sparkly bronze)

M1035 Nude Du Soir (sparkly nude)

M982 Be Happy (mint)

second row:

M44 Fire Red (sparkly bordeaux)

M1049 Aubergine (reddish purple)

M795 Folly (hot pink)

back row:

1010 Poudre (salmon)

1006 Mauve (mauve)

front row: M808 - M1035 - M982
middle row: M44 - M1049 - M795
back row: 1010 - 1006

Aside from these nail polishes I have some other from random brands. But these brands are definitely one of my favorites! You've probably noticed that I don't really have high end polishes, that's just because I can't afford to pay that much for a beauty item. IF I'd ever get one, you'll be the first to know! :)

SAMPAR Essentials line

A while ago I entered a writing contest for a local magazine and surprisingly I won! A few weeks later they e-mailed me saying I won a beauty package by SAMPAR.
I've heard of the brand before, but I was never drawn by the packaging since I don't know much about it. As soon as I knew I won that price I did some research on the following products:

SAMPAR Essentials: Velvet Cleansing Milk - Urban Express Mousse - Skin Quenching Mist

Apparently they're part of the Essentials line, but these 3 products can be considered as the most commonly known products. They're called this way because they all contain essential oils and are suited for all skin types.

* Velvet Cleansing Milk (cleanses & softens):
   This cleanser that's supposedly would take all your make up off.

* Urban Express Mousse (essential oils & vegetal sugar):
   The foaming cleanser will purify and clear your skin of toxins.

* Skin Quenching Mist (tones & soothes):
  A spray to lock your make up into place.

Apparently they do score quite good in the beauty world. It's just weird that I haven't heard much about it.

I haven't tried these products before because I've been trying other skincare products for the moment. I will review these as soon as I get a chance to try these babies out!

Maybelline eye shadows

Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline.

Now I don't use a lot of eye shadow but since I've got pretty oily eyelids, I'm bound to use an eye primer.
I've heard a lot of beauty guru's rave about the Maybelline color tattoos and I really really really wanted to try them out. So I went and bought myself one...yay!!

Maybelline color tattoo: Tough as Taupe

I've heard they're comparable to the MAC paint pots and they're supposedly to be MACs' dupe. I do own a MAC paint pot, and I have to admit...they are quite similar except for the color range of course.

They're both creamy and easy to blend, but the biggest difference in the MAC and Maybelline pots is definitely the price. Although MAC is quite accessible, unfortunately the Maybelline color tattoo haven't been released in Belgium yet, so we'll just have to be patient.

Here's what Tough as Taupe looks like:

It's a gorgeous taupe color (surprise surprise) and I think it'll flatter many skin tones. So I'd say, if you can get your hands on these babies, go get them because they're fab!


Of course the Asian continent often makes dupes of other dupes :)
I recently found a similar product which is called Maybelline Lasting Shine Gel Eyeshadow. They're basically the same: they prime and are quite pigmented.

I have the one in brown because I like natural colors with a light color pay off:

Maybelline Lasting Shine Gel Shadow: BR-1 Brown

It looks natural on me with a little bit of a shimmer. Just the way I like my eye shadows!

If I get to repurchase one of the products mentioned above, I'll definitely buy Maybelline color tattoo Tough as Taupe. It looks gorgeous and they're affordable, what can a beauty blogger ask for more?



Good to know:
They all come in a good variety of colors, they're creamy, easy to blend and they would make a good primer.

• The Mac paint pot contains 5g and you can it in a lot of shades.
• The Maybelline color tattoo contains 4g and is available in a wide range of 10 shades.
• I think the Maybelline lasting shine gel shadow contains about 2.5g. I can't remember how much it contains exactly because I threw the box away, but the packaging reminds of the Maybelline Eyestudio Lasting Drama Gel Liner. And this gel shadow comes in 6 colors.
  

Maybelline Lasting Shine Gel Shadow: beige, pink, purple, blue, brown, white

Favorites of the month: March 2012

Tired of reading 'I can't believe the month flew by and it's already April'? Well too bad, because it did fly by and I am surprised it is already April! :D

I was quite excited to write this post because it'll be my first 'favorite products of the month'. I love watching/reading these posts of fellow beauty youtubers/bloggers. It proves how products can work out differently to people. It can be their HG or it can be the why-did-they-make-it kind of product.

Anyway, enough of the chit chat! Favorites, appear thyselves!

First of all we have a product I've already reviewed before, it's the Maybelline baby lips.

Maybelline Baby Lips: smoothing cherry

This lip balm doesn't only look cute, it hydrates your lips like hell and it smells SO good too! The HK Maybelline baby lips are different from the ones you can get in the States. In HK they're available in 4 flavors: cherry, berry, mint and orange. Now, each and every flavor has its own purpose. Cherry takes care of intense moisture and smoothing, berry makes sure your lips are protected, the mint one is medicated for repair and the orange baby lips makes your lips hydrated. These are all translucent and don't have a color pay off. And oh, have I mentioned that they all have an SPF of 20?

Since I have the typical Asian eye lashes (read: droopy, straight down looking, short eye lashes), I need a mascara to make my eyes appear more open.

Dolly Wink: volume mascara

If you haven't heard of the Dolly Wink line before, it's a Japanese brand and they've decided to collaborate with Japanese model Tsubasa Masuwaka. She's made the packaging so cute you can hardly resist to try out the products! And yes, the quality is darn good!

This mascara lengthens and gives volume to my lashes. The thing I like the most about this one is that it gives a boost to my lashes, yet it still looks natural.

Last favorite face product is blush!

Mac blush: Melba

After hearing so many good reviews on it I couldn't wait to try out this product after buying it. I'm really glad I listened to the beauties out there...I simply LOVE this blush! It's a peachy/apricot color and it warms up your complexion in an instant. This blush is very well pigmented and has a matte finish: one slight dab of the brush and it'll be more than enough!

Hair! Hair! Hair!

Lush shampoo: I Love Juicy

I'm sure many of you have already heard of Lush before, so I decided to walk into a Lush shop. First reaction: huuuuuuuuhhh, so many scents, don't know where to look, where to start,... I did some research on shampoo to wash my let's-fry-some-chips-on-that-hair with and tadaaaa: I Love Juicy turned out to be my hair's best friend!

I have tried A LOT of shampoo's to take care of my oily scalp and dry ends, but nothing has really wow-ed me. I used to wash my hair every other day. Now I wash my hair every other 2 days with the I Love Juicy. This shampoo has a very strong fruity scent. The fruity ingredients are pineapple, mango and kiwi and then there's sea salt for volume and seaweed extract to make your hair squeaky clean.

I mainly use this on the roots so it can get all the oils out of my hair and I TRY to condition the ends of my hair every time I wash my hair.

The only downside to this goodie is the price. But if it keeps doing its job, I won't mind paying that extra bit for a product that works wonders on me.

"You can tell a lot from a person's nails" - Ian McEwan

Catrice: Walk On Air

Unfortunately Catrice is only available in Europe. But what I like about Catrice in general is that they have pretty good products for the price you pay (which is peanuts!). I've discovered their nail collection a few years ago, and since then it's my favorite drugstore brand for nails. Their range of color is amazing AND they regularly have new nail polish collections which are LE. The nail polish you see above is called Walk On Air and it's from the Hidden World collection. It's a peachy color with purple shimmers...SO BEAUTIFUL! It's the perfect peachy/coral color for spring and summer and it's just one of those colors that makes you happy no matter what :)