Colors of the Rainbow TAG

Hi everyone! I've seen this tag going around like a fruit fly smelling sweets :) So I decided to do this as well.

If you don't know what this tag is about, you should basically name a product you like according to the colors of the rainbow. In exception the last 'color' which is a multicolored item you can pick. Without further ado, let's jump right into this tag:

Red

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Anti-Chip top coat

For all those polish junkies out there, this shouldn't come as a surprise: Sally Hansen Insta Dri.

This top coat is hands down one of the best top coats I've ever used.
I like how this covers the mistake you've made with your polish. One coat of this and you'll have a flawless mani! Plus, this baby dries in just a few seconds.








                                                                                        Orange

Bourjois Color Boost: 03 Orange Punch

I would have to mention my Bourjois' crayon in Orange Punch. It's a fat stick that's a tinted lipbalm. It's smooth, gives a subtle color pigmentation and it's from the drugstore. It doesn't give a true orange tint to the lips, it's more of a coral color that leans to the orange side. This is probably one of my best buys of summer '13.






Yellow

Clarins Lotus Face treatment Oil

I haven't shared much about this product, but that's because I'm still trying this out before sharing my thoughts on it with you. This Clarins' oil is for treating the face to get it less oily. Sounds weird? If you'd like me to do a review on it, let me know in the comment bar below.





 




                                                                                                            Green

Macadamia Healing Oil Spray

I've purchased this healing oil about a year ago, but I've only been using this product consecutively for about a month.

I spritz this oil when my hair is damp. This makes it more easy for me to comb through. When my hair's dry I notice my hair's shinier and less dry.

It might be a detail to some of you, but I like it how this oil comes in a spray.







Blue

Clarisonic Mia

I kept thinking what product I could use for my something blue. Looked around my room, checked out of make up collection and then suddenly my little light bulb went on: my Clarisonic Mia is blue!

See it as a electronic toothbrush, only bigger and for the face, haha!

You can use this with your cleanser of choice and go over your face with the brush. It will get the impurities out leaving your face squeaky clean.






                                                                                                            Indigo

Britney Spears: Midnight Fantasy

I was hesitant to put this as my indigo item, because I only use this for special events during the winter.

Since I suck at describing scents, I looked it up:
In the top notes there are exotic framboise, black cherry and plum. Floral midnotes followed by warm vanilla base notes.
It's a quite heavy sweet fragrance, so be aware. But if you like the scent of blueberries and vanilla, this will be right up your alley :) 






Violet

MAC Girl Trouble

This is a silver based lilac with a metal finish.

If you look closely you'll see glitter in the bottle, but rest assured that the glitter is so densely packed that you won't even notice it on your nails when applied.

As most polishes with fine glitter, it isn't easy to take it off. But honestly, the color's so pretty that it's worth fussing about.

                                                                                                            Pink

Fairy Drops Platinum waterproof mascara

Fairy Drops! Fairy Drops! Fairy Drops! If I haven't stressed it enough on my blog, I LOVE this mascara!

This mascara has fibres which will elongate your lashes, and the thick wand has a curve to it too make your lashes curl better when applying mascara. If you want to check this baby out, click this link to get you some.








Multicolor

Batiste dry shampoo

Over the last years dry shampoo has become a staple in my beauty collection. I have very oily roots and dry ends, so I try to avoid washing my hair as least as possible. The last couple of weeks I've been experimenting by washing maximum 1 to 2 times a week and use dry shampoo for those greasy hair days.

Most cans of Batiste have more than just one color, so I decided to put this as my multicolored item.








Try to pick out one product for every color of the rainbow. So... *tick* You're it! Do this tag and share your answers with me! :)

Top 5 blushes

Don't you love it how some girls have that beautiful flush of colour on their cheeks, like they've been running for a few minutes? Next to actually having to go for a run, you can achieve this look by applying some blush on the apples of your cheek

In my former blog post I explained how to apply blush. If you haven't read it, check it out here :)

Without further ado, let's get this blush party started!

5. Canmake
When I bought this blush I had no idea how big the brand Canmake was. Turns out it's a very well known brand and is famous for its cute packaged make up items. I have to admit I caved for this blush because of its packaging. It seemed compact and getting 2 colors for one, is something every girl with a budget can appreciate. It has a coral and a pink side. You can use the colors separately, but you can also mix these 2 colors together to get a light pink.

Canmake: 03

4. Physician's Formula
Even you didn't believe me when I said I'm a sucker for packaging, please let this blush be a great example to that theory. Look how freaking amazing this blush looks and you'll want it too, haha! It has different sizes of hearts and it has about 3 colors you can mix. It gives a lovely healthy glow to the cheeks and is just wonderful to have in your collection. This is perfect for those days you don't want a lot of color on you, but you still want to add a radiance to your cheeks too appear awake and happy of course :)

Physician's Formula Happy Booster: Natural

3. MAC
This blush is probably my most expensive blush I own. It's a matte corally blush that has a great pigmentation and will stay for quite some time. Just be careful when applying this because you have to dab in very lightly with your blush brush and you'll have more than enough on your brush. Yes, they're not expensive, but since a little goes a long way I don't see my finishing this blush any time soon. A good investment I'd say!

MAC: Melba

2. Tarte Amazonian Clay Blissful
Tarte is known for its blushes and I just had to get myself one to see what the hype was all about. Next to the pretty blush itself, it gives the lovely subtle sheen I love. I got Blissful and it's a very light coral color, so hence that it seems very light. This blush stayed on me the entire day. I'm withholding myself to get another color, must...finish...this...one...first. (which will never happen!). Another detail worth mentioning: this blush is formulated without mineral oil, parabens, petrolatum, phthalates, sodium lauryl sulfate and synthetic fragrance.

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour blush: Blissful

1. Benefit Coralista
My number 1 blush... This coral color will suit a lot of skintones and just gives the perfect amount of color and sheen to your cheeks. A wonderful blush that has a pleasant fragrance as well. The blush will stay for a very good amount of time. I like this blush because it's a no brainer blush. You don't have to be careful when applying this. Just dab in your blush brush and apply to your cheeks. No matter how many times you go over it with blush, it'll look great!

Benefit: Coralista

Here's a swatch of the blushes I just mentioned above. The swatches are only 1 swipe because I usually go over my cheeks just 1 time:

Left to right: Benefit, Tarte, MAC, Physician's Formula, Canmake

It's obvious that MAC and Physician's Formula are more pigmented, followed by Benefit's Coralista. I like the 2 others because they give that healthy glow to the face.
MAC is a little bit darker and is more pink than the PF's coral blush. Coralista is a coral (duh?) with a sheen to it. Blissful by Tarte is more of a corally, almost golden sheen, while Canmake's blush is the pink version of it.

Anyway, these are my favorite blushes. Mind sharing your favorite blush with me? Maybe I'll turn out to like it as well!

Battle of the eyeliners

Hi blog readers :)

I've had my share of eyeliners, but unfortunately my oily eyelids, my sensitive and water-very-easily eyes don't appreciate eyeliners as much I'd like to.

I have typical Asian eyelashes. You know, stubborn, stick straight pointing down and very scarce in quantity. Yes, those kind of lashes.

Meanwhile I've gotten to know the magical make up tool which calls an eyelash curler. Ever since I've used it, my lashes can become curly. In spite of not having lots of them, I don't like wearing false eyelashes, I've found out that you can fake the look of having more eyelashes than you actually have by putting eyeliner on your upper waterline, mwoehahaha! And here's when the eyeliners swoop in!

I've used pencils, liquid, gel eyeliners. Quick conclusion? I love gel, like liquid and usually hate pencils eyeliners.

Pencils cause my eyes to water and the white in my eyes becomes red. Also, these can smudge quite easy on my eyes.
Liquids are not very easy to work with, and smudge or rub off eventually.
Gels stay on me the longest.

Today, I'll be comparing not 1, not 2, but 15 kind of eyeliners, including my all time favorite, so stay tuned!

Here's an overview of all the eyeliners. I've swatched them accordingly to the separate reviews down below. Just in case, here's the list with all the brand names:

I've swatched all eyeliners on my hand.
On the right picture I've tested these with saliva to test whether they're really as waterproof (=WP) as they claim to be. I swiped over the liners 3 times with my finger. As you can see, there are a bunch of them which did not succeed the water test.

* Mac technakohl

* Déjà vu Lasting fine

* Maybelline Master drama

* Mulensa

* Rimmel Scandaleyes (WP)

* Dolly Wink

* Benefit BAD gal (WP)

* Cover girl perfect point plus

* Cosmagic lock on liner

* Almay

* Maybelline Eyeliner-matic

* L'Oréal Color Riche Le Smoky

* Catrice (WP)

* Prestige (WP)

Those who survived, were put up to round 2: the waterline.

This eyeliner is probably one of my most expensive eye pencil. No offense, but big brands must promise something good, right? I'm afraid this pencil disappointed me so bad. It smudged, it didn't endure the water test (not that it said waterproof, but still) and it's pricey. No, I won't repurchase this. 4/10

Mac technakohl liner eye liner kajal in graphblack

This is an Asian eye pencil, which I bought in Hong Kong. I heard so much about this brand, I thought I'd give the eye liner a shot. Unfortunately I didn't like this. Perhaps it stayed on me for about an hour, but that's it. In spite of putting it on my waterline, I'd like a pencil to stay put longer than 60 minutes, don't you? A poor 2/10

Déjàvu Lasting fine in black

Maybe it's Maybelline. It sure is Maybelline :) I didn't expect much from this pencil to be quite honest. I bought this at the local drugstore and I thought it would smudge on me like no other, as most drugstore eyeliners do, but I have to admit that this has surprised me, in a good way. This stayed on my waterline after a few hours, barely smudged and the price is right. This deserves a proper 8/10

Maybelline Master drama khol liner in charcoal grey

My friend bought me a khol pencil in France. Mulensa. I never heard of it, but gave it a try anyway. I've put this on my waterline a while back and it stayed put, but I don't know why it smudges immediately after testing it for this blog post. It failed badly at the water test, so another flunk: 1/10

Mulensa khol pencil in black

I bought this drugstore eyeliner after hearing that this is the drugstore version of the Urban Decay 24/7 glide on pencils. LIAR!! It's a shame that this isn't able in a solely black pencil. The pencil I have contains little chunks of glitter causing my sensitive eyes to become red and watery. It didn't take long for this eyeliner to smudge and to even cause a little bit of pain. Thanks a lot glitter... 0/10

Rimmel Scandaleyes kohl liner in 002 sparkling black (waterproof)

For the Asian beauty fans out there, who doesn't know Dolly Wink? The liquid eyeliner has reached an incredible fame, but I've never heard anyone talked about the pencil. On the hand, it's ok, but it's not good at all to put on the waterline. You'd think: well, then just put it on your eyelid. I can't. My oily eyelids makes this eye pencil smudge as hell and I'll look like a panda in no time. Too bad, but nice try, I'll stay with the liquid Dolly Wink: 4/10

Dolly Wink liner in black

We've all heard about the Benefit bad gal liner. I like the pigmentation and the lasting power is ... okay. I don't love this liner, but I can put it if I only have to go out for an hour or 2. I told you so, it's not the best liner. Again, you pay a price for the brand. Luckily this performs a little bit better than some others... 6/10

Benefit BAD gal liner in charcoal, comes with smudger (waterproof)

I don't even know why I wanted to buy this eyeliner. I always heard so many good things on the brand Covergirl, so how bad could it be? Well, let me tell you one thing: this pencil eyeliner should be called smudgetown, haha! No, it didn't leave my eyes watery, but dang...I looked straight up like a panda after 15 minutes, for real! Definitely not worth your money people: 1/10

Cover girl perfect point plus in 205 charcoal, comes with smudger

An Asian eyeliner that didn't do the job properly. Smudged on me after a half an hour, although it didn't cause any more sensitivity, hence my 3/10

Cosmagic lock on liner in black, comes with smudger

After reading so many good reviews on this eyeliner, I just had to give this pencil a try. This did stay put on my waterline at first, but unfortunately this did smudge eventually. Ok, but not good enough. 7/10

Almay eyeliner in 205 black, comes with sharpener

After seeing the results on the swatch picture, you'd think this would perform great. Well, I'm here to tell you this is not a great pencil, but it does the job. It doesn't last as long as other good eye pencils on the waterline, since it's not waterproof. But in spite it's not waterproof, it's aight :) 7/10

Maybelline Eyeliner-matic in intense black, comes with sharpener

  

First off: dang, that pencil is sharp! It actually hurt putting this liner onto my waterline. But back to the purpose of this review: no, it did not last on my waterline. Since it says 'Le Smoky' and there's a smudger with it, I can't blame them for not staying put on my waterline. 3/10

L'Oréal Color Riche Le Smoky eyeliner in 201 black velour, comes with smudger

Catrice, a brand which is often neglected for no understandable reasons. I'm not sure whether the States have access to this brand, but I'm pretty sure some countries in Europe do. Anyway, for a drugstore pencil, this is a good eye pencil. It stays on my waterline for quite some time, I like the twistable pencil and I appreciate the sharpener that comes with. Overall, I like this one: 8/10

Catrice longlasting eye pencil in 010 new kids on the black, comes with sharpener (waterproof)

I've always compared Catrice with Prestige (don't ask me why). Now, I've had this pencil longer than I had the Catrice one. Twist up, waterproof, black eyeliner... It has all I need in an eye pencil. But no... It's no good. It doesn't stay put for too long and my eyes become very red after putting this eyeliner, so a 4/10.

Prestige eyeliner in 01 black (waterproof)

And last but not least, ma favorite pencil. No, I didn't swatch this on the overview of pencils, because I wanted to save this one as a surprise :) This is a gel pencil. When putting this on my waterline, this dried immediately so it stayed put on my waterline. Can I just mention that this didn't budge at all! By far, this is the best eyeliner I have ever used! Definitely worth a 9/10. I couldn't give this full points, because it did smudge a bit on my hand after testing with water (look below)

Jealousness in black (waterproof)

Now I've put all eyeliners to the test, I'm glad to announce the top 3:
Here's another swatch picture of my winners. You'll see that the right side is a bit blurry, that's because I, again, put them to the water test.

*drumroll*

Top down: Maybelline Masterdrama - Jealousness - Catrice

 Results:

3. Catrice
2. Maybelline Masterdrama
1. Jealousness




The thing I like the most about all 3 eye liners is that they're all drugstore products. So they're affordable liners with a great staying power. I can't do anything but recommend these babies!

 

After testing these goodies, I'm still on the hunt for good eyeliners (yes, I'm obsessed, but so are you!) But tell me, do you know any good eyeliners that you happen to love? :)

Blush away!

Hi everyone!

I don't know about you guys, but during fall and winter time I just love using my blushes!
Recently I bought myself a NYX blush, and I must say: this one's goooorgeous!

I try to do some research on a certain product before I go out and buy it. If there's about 1/3 negative reviews on it, I won't buy it.

I've probably read a ton of reviews and seen youtubers reviewing and raving about this blush over and over again.

And yes, I gave in.

Here's Pinched by NYX:

Great thing about this?
It's affordable and you get 5,2g in a little pot. Hold it! You're probably thinking: 5,2g (0,18 oz)? That's nothing! Believe you me that you only need the smallest amount of blush, because it's very pigmented :)

NYX: Pinched

 

This is a a rosy-corally blush with a pretty sheen to it.

My most used blushes are:

Melba, Pinched and Coralista :)

MAC: Melba - NYX: Pinched

MAC's Melba is a light pink orangy color, which is more of a summer blush for me. Tap it lightly with your brush and that'll be more than enough to put on the (hollow of the) cheeks.

NYX: Pinched - Benefit: Coralista

Benefit's Coralista is like an all year round blush. No matter what season it is, I think this blush looks good.

It's a very light blush that you can easily build up for a more heavily made up look. I prefer to use a light hand on this, so it looks more natural like you just ran out the door.

A side note: it's just one of those colors that would look great on every skin tone.

Here's a swatch of every blush mentioned above:

Benefit - NYX - MAC

From left to right:

Coralista by Benefit: a baby pink with microshimmers (good to know: I've had my Coralista for a few years now, and I haven't hit pan yet! Score!)

Pinched by NYX: a coral shimmery color

Melba by MAC: a mat pink/orange color

I have some other blushes put away in my beauty case, because I just keep on reaching for one of these blushes.

I always wanted to try out Deep Throat by NARS, because NARS is the queen in blushes :) But I've put myself up to the task to use an entire blush before I go out and splurge money on a NARS blush. Beam me up! 

Maybe I'll do a blog post on my entire blush collection :)

Would that be interesting?

And what is your favorite blush by the way?

NOTW: Girl Trouble

Hi folks!

MAC has recently launched a Glamour Daze Nail Laquer collection where they have polishes in 2 formula's: pearl and crème.

I've applied opaque in 2 coats and tadaaaaa:

MAC: Girl Trouble

It's a silver based purple with a pearl finish. You can probably notice the fine glitter, but I must say it's so densely packed that it looks like a metallic finish in the end.

For the nail lovers out there, you and me both know that glitter is darn hard to remove... and I must admit that MAC's Girl Trouble is no exception.

I chose this polish, because I don't have any other pearly color like this. MAC isn't cheap, but if there's a special color out there, I probably won't be able to resist it :)

Which MAC polish do you love?

Favorites of the month: May 2012

Oh May, May, where are thou May? We're already June and that means: monthly favorites...yaaay!

I discovered some things that will last for quite a while in my beauty/skin care routine! Some of you may know that I recently purchased a Clarisonic, I'm liking it so far, but since I haven't been using it for a long period of time, it'll probably pop up in my next fav's. Anyway, less chit chat, more make up!

I'll start off with the eye make up: recently I bought Urban Decay's Naked 2 palette. I finally splurged on a must have according to a lot of beauty guru's.

Urban Decay Naked 2 palette

I've written a review on this, so feel free to check this out :) It's a neutral cool eyeshadow palette which contains matte to shimmery shades...LOVE-LY!

Recently I've been experimenting more with make up, but it's been a pain in the but to take the make up off before going to bed. But thanks to the invention of make up wipes, it made the job much easier! I've been using the Yes to cucumbers make up wipes to take everything off my face. These soothing facial towelettes cleanses, removes make up and nourishes the skin...all in one swipe! They remove all of my make up (actually, the remove all of my concealer and setting powder since that's pretty much all I wear). It's so much easier than actually cleansing it with a proper make up remover cleanser. Yes, I am lazy, now you all know :)

Yes To Cucumbers facial towelettes

Let's stick to face, shall we?
I've been using the Nivea Pure effect scrub a couple of times a week. It's a very light scrub with micro beeds in it which makes it less harsh for the skin. Something that got me over the fence of getting this is the matte effect it gives after washing your face, and my face LOVES matte effects :)

Nivea Pure Effect peel soft mild scrub

I have a combination skin (oily on the T-zone and dry cheeks). The scrub is perfect for my oily T-zone but the dry cheeks do require a moisturizer, enter Nivea Pure effect Control Shine mattifying gel. I like using a gel during the warmer months of the year so it's less rich on the face. And you've probably figured out I like using this because it gives me a matte finish. It says on the bottle it doesn't contain any oils, but ocean minerals (but I'll leave that up to you whether that's true). I've been using this gel on a daily base and I thought it deserved its place in my monthly favs :)

Nivea Pure Effect control shine mattifying gel

 
Pretty happy nails for this month! My friend borrowed me her Play Day from Mac, and boy oh boy, did I fall in love with this nail polish! It's a gorgeous coral/salmon color which is bright but not neon-bright. It's the perfect color for summer if you ask me. Only downside to this is that this polish is a LE, booooooo! Unfortunately these were sold out in the first week they came out on the market. MAC, if you read this, please put this one in the permanent line? *puppy eyes*

Mac Play Day

And we're nearing the end of this article...boo!
But not to worry, I'll be posting again soon and before you know it, another month has passed and I'll be writing my FOTM for June! :)

NOTW: Play Day

This week's color is coral (yaaaay!)

Play Day

I simply LOVE coral. It's just the perfect color for my taste :)
This color reminds me a lot of Essie's Tart Deco, which is just a tad more orange than Play Day. I did notice the camera didn't do justice to the polish color, it's coming over way much lighter than it is.
It's got a creamy texture and the first layer may be very sheer, the second does the job.

I borrowed this one from my friend and she told me this is a LE, so if anyone knows any dupes for this one...please feel free to share!

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