NOTW: Raspberryfields Forever

Well hello!

So, I'm back with another nails of the week. I was wandering around the isles of the drugstore and I happen to came across this beautiful polish:

Catrice: 26 Raspberryfields Forever

If you've been following my NOTW's for a while, you probably know I love my drugstore polishes. Catrice is a wonderful drugstore brand that has a great variety of colors. Raspberryfields Forever is no exception.

It's a creamy polish and 1 coat will do it for a mani. It looks like a pinkish red in the bottle, but it comes out red on the nails. I was looking for a pinkish red, but I guess a girl can never have too many red polishes in their collection :p

I did notice that the Raspberryfields Forever can be a dupe for Essie's She's Pampered: a true red. 
You might say a red is a red, there ain't no difference in them. But there are SO many different kinds of red: orange red, pinkish red, true red, dark red, ...

What do you think of this classic look?

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!

NOTW: Devotee

This is my very first Illamasqua polish and it was gifted to me.

Illamasqua - Devotee

Before I start rambling about this polish, my friend was inspired by the books 50 Shades of Grey to buy me this polish. And since I was totally into pink those months, this polishwas right up my alley... I thought!

It's a neon matte pink that's very in-your-face and would make a great color to put on during summer. It reminds me of a Barbie pink, which is just a bit too pink for my liking. 
In spite of nearing the coldest months of the year, this fun color can brighten up everyoutfit.


The formula is like a gel, which makes it look like you have fake nails on. That's how good it looks on your nails! When you apply this on your nails you'll understand why they call it the Rubber Finish Nail Varnish.
The matte finish is something that makes this polish special. Although I'm not a huge matte fan, it did muted the color a bit down.

I didn't expect to apply so many coats, but I had to use 3 coats to make it picture perfect.

As the brush, it's a standard size brush. I think it's somewhat too small, I prefer a little bit bigger brushes, but that's just my preference.

Devotee has opened the Illamasqua world to me, but I don't think I'll be trying out other polishes from this brand.

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! :)

Battle of the red tinted lip balms

Hi girls!
Remember my blog post on 'battle of the eyeliners'? If you haven't seen it yet, give it a reed here :) Well, since I've bought a gazillion tinted lip balms the past couple of months, I thought I'd do a comparison of all the red tinted lip balms I have.

I have 7 contestants who are ready to take on each other. Are y'all ready? GO!
Here's the overview of the lip balms. They're swatched according to the separate reviews down below. Just in case, here's the list with all the brand names:

On the left you'll see the original swatches and on the right they were all put to the test whether they'll last after swiping it away with saliva.

 

 

 

 

* NYC

* HEMA

* Korres

* Bourjois

* Maybelline

* Essence

* Canmake

 

 

 



 

Let's see how they perform: 

I didn't pay a lot for this lip balm, but I can tell you that you're definitely getting your money's worth. The color pay off is quite stunning and has a very sweet scent to it. The packaging is okay, it's clear that this is meant for teenage girls who like cute stuff. When it was it put up to the saliva test this was actually the only lip balm that didn't even smear a little bit. Next to the packaging and the pigmentation, it doesn't dry out the lips after wearing off. Yes, it wears off, after a 4 hours and after having a meal. Nonetheless, for a drugstore lip balm, this is not bad at all. 7,5/10


NYC Applelicious: Big Apple Red

HEMA is a Dutch drugstore and I've seen this lying on the shelves. I thought it was interesting in how the drugstore's version would work. This is a the crayon type of lip balm and I really like these types. It makes the application just that tad more fun. These are not as hydrating as I want them to be, but they'll be okay if you apply a clear lip balm underneath. They do have a some what vanilla scent to them. Unfortunately they do wear off after an hour or so, so don't expect to last for the entire night. Very affordable but worthy a 5/10

HEMA: red

Yes, I already admitted I'm a lip junkie. And no lip balm collection would be complete without ONE high end one. I splurged on a Korres lip balm because I heard such good things on it.
I used to love those little pots where you had to dig in with your finger to get product out. Until I learned about hygiene in the beauty department and I switched to stick forms very quickly. But that doesn't take away my love for those little pots. If the product is good, I'll try it. And man oh man, am I glad I purchased this. This is hydrating, lasts long and gives a great color pay off. They have a slight scent to them, but nothing too much. If only these came out in a stick form. You're probably going to say: Lily, you're not kept up to date well? They do exist. I know! BUT, they don't have the same formula :( They're simply not as good as the pot versions. If this would have some UV protection, this would have been my HG. A well deserved 9/10

Korres lip butter: Pomegranate

You know I love me some drugstore goodies. When the crayons by Bourjois came out, I had no clue how they performed. I got myself one and ended up buying 2 more. That says it all, right? I love the color pay off, they're very well pigmented but they're not lipstick va va voom. They have SPF, wear long on me, has a subtle sweet scent and are surprisingly very hydrating. You see in the saliva test that the Bourjois lip balm actually stained the back of my hand a little bit more than the others. Hands down, my favorite product by Bourjois this year. 9,5/10

 

Bourjois Color Boost: Red Sunrise

For all those Baby Lips fans out there, I got your back! They finally came to Europe and we've waited a long time for them! I do own some Asian Baby Lips as well, but they don't carry the pigmented versions...boo! Luckily Belgium got the opportunity to dispatch them as well and I'm sure a lot of European lips are smiling their teeth off :) These Baby Lips are worth the hype: hydrating, longwearing, good color pay off and are strongly sweet scented. The only thing I wish I could check off as well is a UV-protection. They're very affordable and I have these lying around my bed just in case my lips decide to chap. Good stuff! 9/10

Maybelline Baby Lips: Cherry Me

One of the most affordable lip balms I own are the ones by Essence. But don't judge a book by its cover! This lip balm makes sure your lips stay hydrated with the desired color on them.  No SPF and slightly sweet scented, but worth a 8,5/10

Essence Glow Tinted Lip Balm: 01 Light Up!

And last but not least, the Stay On Balm Rouge by Canmake. This moisturizing lip balm gives your lips the most natural red you have seen. I love color, but I still prefer natural looks over over-the-top looks. This lip balm has a great color pigmentation. As longevity, this actually stayed on my lips after eating. It wasn't until I wiped my lips that the color came off. And another plus? This actually has an SPF protection. So no worries, Canmake to the rescue! 9,5/10

Canmake Stay-On Balm Rouge

Drugstore or not, they're all quite good. For those who want to step out of their clear box but are afraid of bold lipsticks, try the tinted lip balms. I like how you can build up the color by applying a light coat or you can go over it 3 to 4 times to make it pop.

Top 3:

3. Korres lip butter
2. Bourjois Color Boost
1. Canmake Stay On Balm Rouge

And Canmake has won the battle! I know I gave both Canmake and Bourjois the same points, but the winner beat at the packaging department. This Korean brand is known for its cute packaging. Bourjois is stepping up their game with their latest beauty goodies, so hopefully they'll keep up the good work. And Korres can join the top 3. This lip butter goes on smoothly, but for hygienic reasons it didn't take the crown.

Hope you all enjoyed this article! But do tell me, what's your favorite tinted lip balm? :)

NOTW: You Don't Know Jacques!

For those OPI lovers out there, this is a staple to have in your polish collection. (or you probably already own it)

OPI - You Don't Know Jacques!

This is a brown color with taupe hints to it.
Like most OPI polishes, they apply with maximum 2 coats.

It's a HG from many beauty guru's, but since I'm not really into brown polishes, I rather pass on this.

It was in 'The Culture of Color' collection by OPI. This contains 4 mini OPI's and this polish was the main reason why bought it. In all honesty, I've never finished a big bottle of polish, so I thought these mini varnishes were a great buy for me to try out.

Review Canmake Stay-On Balm Rouge

I'm sure you've all heard of the Revlon lip butters :) Apparently the Koreans have found a dupe for these. I'm talking about Canmake Stay On Balm Rouge.

Canmake Stay On Balm Rouge

Before I get into the product, let's just enjoy the moment and look at the cute little tube of lip balm. Canmake is known for its cute packaging and I have to say that they didn't fail on that department this time. The simple flower background is a subtle way to make it look more appealing to customers. Sneaky marketeers, those Asians!

As the product itself, I have to say that I freak-ing love this lip balm!
Not only has it a good color pay off, but it moisturizes my lips as well. And I have to say that the color stays on for about 4 hours, which isn't bad at all! I had a meal with this lip balm and it didn't come off until I wipes my lips with a tissue. You don't feel like you have anything on, hence the lip balm, but this one is there to stay.

Another thing worth mentioning: SPF protection. This has a UV shield. It doesn't say how much, but just knowing it has one, makes it more easy for me to reach for this one than for a lip balm that doesn't have SPF protection at all.

The little tube is handy to throw in your purse for touch ups during the day. And frankly, it's one of mine cutest lip balms ever.

Here's a swatch of the balm:

I've swatched this twice on my hand so you could see that the color is actually buildable.
On the top I've swatched it only once, but on the bottom you'll see a deeper color because I went over it for about 4 times.
I don't have the balls to wear a bold lip, but these tinted lip balms are a great try out. They're not translucent but the color isn't as in-your-face as lipsticks.
You can easily wear it sheer during daytime, but when the lights go out...BAM, that's when you and your Canmake Stay On come in and make every head turn your way, haha!

I think it's a great lip balm. I've used the Revlon lip butter before, but you have to admit:
Asians rock at packaging. That little effort convinced me on sticking with Canmake lip balms.

What do you prefer: Revlon or Canmake?

Review Clarins' highlighting pen

Highlighter, a make up item that a lot of newbies tend to skip.

I was never a fan of highlighter. I always thought of it as something that would make me oilier than I already am. No need for more oils.

Until I did some more research on it. See it as a tool that could pop out the features you love as opposed to bronzer to contour which you can use to suck in the features you want to hide.

I don't do a lot of highlighting, but if I do I like to use it on my under eye region.  I like to draw a triangle and that can brighten the face instantly.
Other places you can use the highlighting pen for are:

• center of the forehead (because light naturally hits you there)
• above the eyebrow (gives the illusion of lifting up the eyebrow)
• brow bone (same reason as above)
• inner tear dot (to make you look more awake)
• under eye bags (the highlighting can cover up the darkness under the eye)
• cheekbones (this makes your cheekbones stand out)
• nose bridge (to make your nose bridge stand out higher which gives the effect of having a slimmer nose)
• cupid's bow (especially when you're wearing a bold lip, this can make all eyes go to the lips)

Maybe some of you know by now that I'm a true newbie when it comes to highlighting. I didn't use any of those highlighter for my inner eye corner, my under eye area or and other areas on the face that can use some of that magical light.

When I knew NOTHING about make up I went along with this friend of mine who bought the YSL Touche éclat. Little did I know it was a highlighter. Yes, I was such a woos I bought the things she bought, because I thought 'well, if she likes it, I'm sure I'll like it too!'. And oh, did I mention that I bought her shade instead of a shade that would suit me? Dumb dumb dumb :)

After doing some research on make up and its techniques, I asked the sales woman to find me a shade that would match me. I have to admit, I still didn't use it immediately, I was scared by putting extra product I wouldn't really need.

Basically the touche éclat is a highlighting pen on which there has been a lot of buzz around. When I bought this, I had no idea it was a HG for many beauties out there. But now I'm into beauty stuff, I realize this pen has got a lot of hype around.

I had the YSL touche éclat in shade no 1 and was too pink for my yellow undertone.
Since Belgian shopping policy sucks (you can't return anything which is already opened), I kept it in my beauty collection for years, just because it's pretty to look at :p But just a few months before I started my blog, I threw it away, so unfortunately I can't show you mine. But I'm sure a lot of you know how the YSL Touche éclat looks like. They're known for their sleek gold packaging and their logo in black with a subtle hint of red.

To set another highlighting pen across the famous YSL, I bought one which is less known and has the same purpose. 


Clarins Instant Light Brush On Perfector

This highlighter is also a twist up pen and look gorgeous as well in your beauty collection.
I have this in the shade 02. I'm not sure whether this suits me the best, but 02 works fine for me. 

As the shade from the YSL is too pink for me, I prefer the Clarins one. The formula are both good. In spite of the wrong shade I still prefer Clarins. It's more affordable, it gives the same results and looks just as pretty as the high end one.

A lot of people use this as a concealer, but honestly... this obviously won't work as good as a real concealer. The touche éclat is a highlighting pen, not a concealer, let's just make that clear.



Clarins is a little  bit cheaper than the YSL one, so I'll stick to Clarins should I want to use a highlighting pen in the future. What would you choose?

NOTW: Mango Madness

I love to switch my NOTW's between natural and bright colors.
Since I had me some nude nails last week, I like to share my fun bright NOTW today with you girls.

ELF - Mango Madness

I've never hidden my love for coral, so I just had to try out a coral polish by ELF.

The brand ELF might be cheap, but that doesn't take away the quality from this varnish.
Admitting that light colors may need a few more coats, but richer colors will only require 1 coat.

I bought the ones with the improved formula, so I can't compare it with the old versions. But one thing is for sure, I'm loving me some ELF!

Although it looks more orange in the bottle and it looks more bright in the picture, but it's less in-your-face in real life. A beautiful coral color to slap on the nails during the warmer months.

A beautiful color that takes me back to the summer time for a week :)

to SC or not to SC?

Hello there everyone!

If you've taken the time to read this blog post, you're probably wondering what the letters 'SC' stand for. Let me help you out... Pronounce the letters one by one. What polish brand did you just say?

That's right :) Essie

In this blog post I'll be talking about nail polishes, but first let me show you my collection of Essie polishes.

Here's a listing of the polishes I have left to right:

• Cocktail Bling: blue toned grey
• Eternal Optimist: spiced rose
• Brooch The Subject: light mocha
• Fiji: milky pink
• Tart Deco: coral
• No Chips Ahead: top coat
• Go Ginza: pastel purple
• School of Hard Rocks: greyish dark green
• She's Pampered: dark pink - red
• Buy Me A Cameo: rose gold
• Naughty Nautical: teal

Before I get into reviewing each and every one, let me put out there that I'm no longer an Essie fan, in spite of having 11 polishes.

Cocktail Bling:
This blue toned grey polish is a pretty color, but it just doesn't suit my skintone. I was hoping it would turn out lighter on the nails, but after putting 2 coats of this this turns out darker than it looks like in the bottle. A pretty color, but not my thing.

Eternal Optimist:
A spiced rose that reminds me of a grandma nude. Not flattering enough for me to like it.


Brooch The Subject:
This varnish has a tint of mocha. I'm into nudes, but this gave my mani a dirty look. Kind of the opposite of what I expect from a mani...

Fiji: When I looked up swatches from this milky pink polish, I thought it could be my go to polish for whenever I want my nails to look classy but not overdone. Unfortunately this reminded me of doing my nails with Tipp-Ex. It made my nails look SO white. No thanks Fiji.

Tart Deco: A bright color which is perfect for the summer time. I like coral colors, especially during the warmer months, but too bad it wouldn't look good during the cold months of which we have a lot here in Belgium.

No Chips Ahead: This topcoat is probably the worst topcoat I've ever used. It's ironically that they call this No Chips Ahead, since this made my mani chip like crazy. A big no no.

Go Ginza: This lavender is probably one of my favorite polishes EVER! Not just from my own Essie collection, but from my entire polish collection. This is a gorgeous pastel purple that can be worn all year round.

School of Hard Rocks: A greyish dark green color that was in my Deauty box and a color I wouldn't have picked up it was for me. It's a too dark of a color and in my opinion greens and blues are just not my cup of tea.

She's Pampered: I was hoping this red varnish would be more of a pink red, but instead it's more of a deep pink (as in you can barely see it, ergo it's just a classic red). Every girl needs a good red in their collection, and it's an okay polish, but it just wasn't what I expected it to be.

Buy Me A Cameo: A rose gold polish that reminded me of Orly's Rage without the shimmers. I've been into rose gold the last couple of months and I thought this color would be right up my alley. Unfortunately this was so streaky, my love for rose gold even diminished...

Naughty Nautical: A teal I was gifted when I bought Buy Me A Cameo. I wouldn't reach for this kind of color, but it is a very pretty color.

In spite of the wrong color choice, I have to admit that for most Essie varnishes the formula are quite creamy and sometimes one coat will do the trick. But unfortunately, this just isn't enough for me to keep on trying out Essies.

Overall, I think I've given Essie enough chances to make me fall in love with the brand. There were just too many misses than hits that I won't be purchasing the Essie polishes anymore.

What do you think of Essie? To SC or not to SC?