A makeup haul! Art Deco, Revlon, Erre Due

Yet another mini haul with products I've collected over the past month.
Pretty frugal, as you can see... Hey ho, blame it on my tight budget ;)

In an attempt to rehabilitate my (unhealthy!) addiction to the Body Shop makeup range, I'm doing my best to show some love to drugstore brands that I have been overlooking in favour of "the disease". Judging by the outcome, I'm glad for this change!

To sum it up, every single product from the haul falls undoubtedly under the
pin-up inspired category. That's for having a huge crush on Dita Von Teese...

* Oh please, don't judge! The girl is a phenomenon of elegance, glamour and sensuality. Who wouldn't want to be in her shoes? It could be worse, though; imagine if I admitted I was infatuated with Kim K? Or -dear Lord- Nicki Minaj??? *

Still with me? Swell!

May I proudly present you the Art Deco Golden Vintage lipstick in Muse Red,
Dita's favourite classic red lipstick- her words, not mine... It's part of her 3rd limited-edition makeup collection that was launched during Christmas; boy, am I glad to get my hands on this lippie! It's a bright tomato red, closer to Lady Danger than the likes of Russian Red/Ruby Woo. Paid: €14,80

12 for 2012: LIPSTICK WARDROBE's favourites!

It's probably late to blog about last year's favourite products, my apologies!
Twas so hard to narrow them down to just 12- hence the delay...

2012 was pretty hectic, and I'm glad it's finally over. Despite all that, one of past year's positive aspects was that I managed to discover some great beauty products which have already gained a "staple" value in my collection. Here they are!

Surprisingly, 9 out of 12 are makeup related-
gee, someone needs to experiment more with skincare, body and hair stuff!

Citrus colognes will always have a special place in my heart. I've now come to use one every single time after the shower for a quick pick-me-up; 4711 cologne has been my favourite. Since its scent dissipates within 20 minutes, it means I'm the only one who can enjoy it while people around me don't notice I smell like a 80-year-old grandma! lol

I've also discovered one of the very best city sunscreens in the market, the -wait for it- Clarins UV Plus HP Day Screen High Protection. Brilliant for oily skin, non-greasy, and packed with antioxidants. If only it was a bit cheaper... The Body Shop Vineyard Peach body butter* is one of my recent addictions. There, I sait it! Seriously, I'll cry when TBS decides to discontinue the Vineyard Peach range, it smells exactly like the real thing!

Now for the makeup bits! Maybelline Fit Me foundation and concealer* were the absolute winners of 2012 and I'll definitely repurchase both. The foundation's finish is fresh and dewy, and the concealer has that peach undertone that suits my complexion to a T. The brush that I apply my foundation with is the Art Deco duo fibre brush; I've had it for more than 3 years now and it looks as good as new, so it deserves its place in this list ;)

As for the blush in the photo above, it's none other than The Body Shop blush in Toast, a versatile matte peach/tan colour that can be paired with any lipstick/eyeshadow combo. But whad'ya know, it's been discontinued! *sob sob*

September '12 favourites.

Oh man, I can't believe it's October already;
that means we're only 2 months away from Christmas time- the "C" word, damn!!!

September wasn't as exciting in regards to the "beauty front", hence the lack of cool and fancy products featuring on this post. Still, it all reflects my recent tendency to concentrate more on my skincare, along with opting for the "no makeup" makeup.

Starting with Clinique 3-Step, the past month's skincare entry:

These mini 30ml tubes lasted me for 4 weeks, used twice per day. Contrary to what I expected from the reviews I had read online, my personal experience with the 3-Step was positive overall: there's noticeably less acne and my pores have become smaller in size.
Now, I can understand why there's a lot of confusion/misconception about this trio, but the main thing to remember is to take it as a cleansing regime- not as a complete skincare routine. More about that on a separate review ;)

As for the makeup products I loved during September...

Mac Paintpot in Painterly

I've had this product for the past 6 months and I can wholeheartedly say that I love it to bits.

So much so that it might just make it to my HGs list!

Painterly is the most popular shade among all Paintpots by Mac, so I won't go into much detail describing its colour; we're dealing with a pink-toned creamy eyeshadow primer. And that's that.

Is it effective at keeping the eye makeup crease-free?
Definitely, 100% yes! Although to be honest, in occasions I keep my makeup on for more than 5-6 hours, I can still see a miiinor creasing- but that's so little that I really don't mind.

If you want to use Painterly Paintpot at its full potential, there are a couple of things you should take into consideration:

* Before application, you have to make sure that your eyelids are clean- traces of last night's eye makeup, leftovers from greasy eye makeup removers and skin oiliness in general, all have to be wiped away before applying Painterly. It's a simple rule but makes all the difference to prevent eyeshadow from creasing!

* The way I found best to apply it is this: rub a finger into the product, pat (not drag) on the lid and lightly blend with a clean finger. This way you won't get too much product which can then lead to creasing.

* Make sure that you screw the cap ever so tightly after usage and by no means should you leave the product with the cap off, otherwise it will dry out fast... But as I said in the beginning, I've had my Painterly for 6 months and the texture hasn't altered a bit, although you can see that the product has "shrinked" inside the pot.

Compared with my former beloved Art Deco eyeshadow base, as much as I love the affordability of the Art Deco primer, Painterly has to be the winner. The Art Deco primer offers no coverage (boo!!!) and has that sparkle that can show through a matte eyeshadow look, messing it up completely. And it also dries in the pot much quicker than Painterly.

So, have you tried Painterly or other Paintpots by Mac?
Which is your favourite eyeshadow primer- ever?

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What's in my summer makeup bag?

As I will soon be leaving for my summer vacations,

I had to sort out my makeup and pick out "the besties" to take with me while I'm away...

I don't know about you girls, but this little "project" took me like a week

to put together!

So here's what I collected for my summer makeup bag:

    Far from packing light, eh? lol

    Wrinkly skarf: H&M

    Detailed info:

    TBS Moisture foundation, TBS pressed powder, Mac Painterly Paintpot,

    Art Deco Perfect Teint illuminator- love this stuff!, TBS concealer pen

    TBS Bronze shimmer waves, Erre Due blush #410, Elf Warm bronzer,

    TBS blush #04, TBS Honey matte bronzer #02

    Eye products: Elf quad with TBS eyeshadows, TBS shimmer cubes warm,

    TBS Baked eyeshadow #07, TBS Eye shimmer #08,

    TBS brow set #02, Biotherm liquid eyeshadow,

    Art Deco mineral kajal liner #98, TBS shimmer pencil #10,

    Art Deco liquid eyeliner, TBS Carbon black pencil, TBS mascara,

    TBS brow gel, Elf Coffee cream eyeliner, TBS single eyeshadow #07,

    Elf cream eyeshadow duo in black licorice

    Elf Luscious Liquid lipstick in Baby lips- cause it's minty and cooling!,

    Mac Suntint from Surf Baby LE collection, Elf lipstick in Runway pink,

    Mac lipsticks in Hue and Impassioned

    Make-up brushes and tools: Elf powder brush, TBS blush brush,

    TBS blending brush, TBS brow/lash comb, Art Deco duo fibre brush,

    TBS travel blush brush, TBS tweezers, sharpeners by Kum and TBS,

    lash curlers by Elegant Touch (aka Eylure)

A notable absence from Chanel Bronze Universel&Mac 130 brush-

too bulky, still haven't got the hang of it, too complicated to mess with...

Wishing you the best summer holidays ever, girls!

Lots of hugs and kisses xx

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March favourites!

Yep, another "favourite products of the month" post, albeit a little late...

But anyways, onto the products:

Contour colour from Elf: finally, I can contour my cheekbones! And make it look natural, not like having two orange stripes in my cheeks, hooray!!! The orange blush, I'm not so fond of- but that's ok. This product is a keeper!

TBS eyeshadow in 04-Granite: an old favourite, this has been my everyday choice for a natural shading on my lids. Although now that it's been discontinued, I should probably save it until I find a good dupe...

Elf cream eyeliner in Coffee: ever since I got this product, I use it almost everyday. It's not the darkest brown eyeliner in the market but still, it's more than decent for the price ;)

Art Deco black eyeliner: this past month I made good use of my liquid liner for a quick and neat evening make-up look. Sometimes, messing around with eyeshadows can be so time consuming...

Apivita mask with Cucumber: the pink clay Apivita sachet I was using was drying out my skin, so I made a change to this moisturising mask; my skin is loving it and I'm never going back to clay masks!

What were your favourites during March?

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Pink Nouveau lips + an eye make-up combination

As promised, here's a swatch of the infamous Mac lipstick...

    Meet my lips!

If you think that this pink shade isn't bright enough, take into consideration that my camera washes out the colours and enhances any blue tones.

That said, you can imagine Pink Nouveau as a deeper, more vibrant pink with less lavender hues...

The following photos are shot in various lightings, so you can see how it photographs:

As for my eyes, sadly I couldn't go completely bare as I'd wished!
My make-up looked somewhat unfinished :(

[See, after a lot of experimenting with make-up, I've come to realise that my eyes need some sort of definition- which means that I can't go out the door with just mascara; my eyes would look swollen and tired. As a result, eyeshadow and pencil/liner is a must for me.]

So this time I did a simple winged eyeliner look with a grey-silver colour on the lid:

Products I used:

Art Deco Mineral Kajal Liner 98: I've been looking for an off-white eye pencil for ages! This product didn't disappoint me to the least- it's mineral-oil free, sooo creamy that it goes on my waterline like butter! And it's so much better than plain ol' white... Love it ;)

Art Deco Liquid Star liner 01: as I've mentioned before, I'm not that comfortable with the "waterproof" factor of this liner. We'll see, maybe I'll get used to it.

The Body Shop Baked eyeshadow in Moonstone: a pretty little duo with a shimmering creamy colour and a silver-grey-taupe loaded with glitter.

    It sure served me well during Christmas holidays!

So, what do you think of Pink Nouveau? Likey? No likey?
What eye make-up would you pare it with?

Oh, in case you didn't notice, I have two tiny moles- one under my left eye and the other on my upper lip...
They're so-so tiny to be treated as "beauty spots", lol!

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Late night randomness, part 2

Hi loves ;)

Another post with the randomness of the moment!

I've been lacking a lot of energy lately... Bored of studying, procrastinating projects for Uni... I desperately need some sort of vacation!

I've been also uninspired to do my make-up routine. Foundation wise, I'm still trying to use up this bottle from the Body Shop, the god damn thing has an air-tight pump that can't let you loose a single drop from it!



Another thing that kind of let me down is the new Art Deco liquid liner I got last month:



Don't get me wrong, it's an excellent eyeliner...
What I'm not so comfortable with is the waterproof factor. It takes ages to get off and the next morning I'm left with tiny little black flecks of eyeliner under my eyes. Which are a pain to remove :(

On another note, there's something to keep me excited till the end of next week:
I got my first order from Elf!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!



During the last couple of weeks I've been literally stalking Elf's website to see when my most-wanted blush&bronzer duo would be available for purchase... So yep, now it's back on stock! And I hurried up and made my order ;)

Oh! One more thing before I'm off to bed:
I didn't write a post for my December favourites, as I made one for the best make-up products for 2010.
2 posts with some "favourites" during the same month was going to be a tad too much...

However, there was a product that I've been using a lot during December and it's the Body Shop's pink Shimmer Waves.



Now that bronzers look a bit "off" on my pale skintone, I've been using this product to brighten up my face- especially during gloomy and cloudy days. It's got a lovely pinky glow that looks lovely both in daylight and nightime!

That's it for now... Man, I can't stop yawning!

What about you, guys?
Share your randomness below, I mean ANY randomness!

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Best of 2010!

Hi lovelies!
This is a list of my most loved & used make-up products of 2010.

    Family pic! Click to enlarge

Onto the products...

Art Deco magnetic eyeshadow palette: As I'm organizing-obsessed, I love anything that gives me the option of neatly storing my make-up. This palette can hold up to 12 single Art Deco eyeshadows, can't wait to fill this baby up with some neutrals, sigh! (I hope the colours I'm after are going to be available to purchase. Soon enough.)

Art Deco duo fibre brush: this was my take on last year's trend of Mac's 187 lookalikes. It wasn't as cheap as I thought a brush from Art Deco would cost (I paid aprox. 18 euros), but I don't regret a single cent I spent on it! It gives a flawless finish and works for everything- foundation, powder, blush or bronzer. And I love the short handle! Anything that can fit into a small travel make-up bag makes me happy ;)

The Body Shop blending brush: Since I tried this brush, my eyeshadow blending skills have been improved! Now I'm looking forward to get Mac's 217...

Kum sharpener: need I mention this again? It's probably the best cosmetic sharpener you'll ever come across, for a decent price!

Mac Angel lipstick: I got into Mac during 2010; this lippie has to be my favourite! I think I've had it with nudes like Hue or Creme d' Nude, a nice girly pink lipstick can do so much more to brighten up my smile ;)

Art Deco longlasting lipstick in #40: a layer of this combined with some Jasmine lip butter, it's been my favourite daytime combo for lips. Pretty pale pink lips are foolproof, right?

Korres Jasmine lip butter: this product is the exception to my rule "no lip balms in a pot". Dipping my fingers into the pot to get some product isn't my favourite, but its colour and texture compensates for it! It has rightly become a favourite among Youtube beauty gurus and bloggers.

The Body Shop lip&cheek stain: I'll never, ever get bored of this stuff. It gives the most natural flush on the cheeks and it stays on all day! If you have combination/oily skin and cream blushes don't really suit you, try this one instead and you'll be hooked with it for a lifetime!

Seventeen #79 nail polish: quite a dark colour, it's not for everyone's taste but personally, I feel more comfortable when wearing this shade on my nails! I hope Seventeen never discontinues it, as it must have been brought out a long, long time ago...

The Body Shop #04-Granite eyeshadow: this colour has been my trusty friend during days I'm in a hurry/ don't know what eyeshadow to pick. Every make-up bag should have at least one dependable eyeshadow which you're 100% sure it matches your eye colour. This is my top choice, followed by...

The Body Shop taupe eyeshadow from Shimmer Cubes #06: it's the most perfect shimmering taupe, ever! I'll probably never run out of it (as this little cube weighs 4 gr. of product!)- but if I do in the future, I won't have any problems purchasing the whole palette again (despite the fact I'm not really using the rest of the shades).

Art Deco eyeshadow base: it's not included in the photos because I'm out of it :(
Still, it's a decent eyeshadow primer and it's worth a try if you can get hold of it.

Have you tried any of the above products?
Let me know which were your 2010 favourites ;)

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November favourites!

Hi lovelies!

Once again, it's the time of the month for some favourite products!

    Family pic

I hope you'll enjoy ;)

The Body Shop Glow Enhancer: the foundation I currently use is a tad too dark for my skintone and looks quite matte. I mix a drop of this stuff et voila, problem solved! I think it's now reformulated and available with the name "Radiant Highlighter".
H&M 36-colour eyeshadow palette: ok, so the quality sucks... But, I got to experiment with so many colours that I'd never thought they suited me! I would recommend this kind of palette to all beginners in make-up like myself ;)
Art Deco liquid liner: it's waterproof, glossy and super black. I've been using it day&night!

Art Deco lipstick in #40: I love this colour so much! I apply a sheer wash and it gives me a natural finish. A couple more layers and I get a pale nude pink- very friendly for my skintone, no freaky concealer lips! I'm mostly pairing it with Jasmine lip butter by Korres.

Korres secret new product: full review coming up asap!
The Body Shop Aloe face cream: Last month I switched my skincare routine; this is the stand-out of all the new products I got! My skin is combination to oily and although this cream is meant to be used to sensitive skin, I find that it helps to soothe my acne spots.

Apivita Aloe face mask: another winner, this is a moisturising mask that smells fantastic and feels cooling on the skin. The Apivita mask sachets never cease to amaze me!

Korres Plum lip butter: Another addition to my lip balm stash... This one gives a very flattering red wine tint on the lips. And it smells so sweet! When I'm at home, I apply a light wash on my lips (and perhaps a touch of cheek stain by the Body Shop, but don't tell anyone!) and I instantly feel more glamorous ;)

What were your favourites for November? Anyone tried the above products?

P.S.: Last night I couldn't sleep because of a freaking mosquito buzzing around my head! I mean, come on!!! Mosquitos during December? When are we going to get some winter days in Greece? Christmas is coming, for God's sake!

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Another Art Deco haul

Hello my lovelies!

Don't mind the quirky picture introduction; I was browsing a fancy book about Beauty and well, this is beautiful to me ;)

You like?

Last week I popped into Hondos Center (legendary cosmetics shop! you gotta love it) for a quick shopping "fix".

The Art Deco counter caught my eye -again!- and I ended up with one lipstick and a liquid eyeliner.

 The lipstick: it's the Longlasting Lip Stylo in shade #46, which the website describes as a "nude rose cream". The way I see it, it's more like a shade close to the lips' natural colour, probably around the same family as Mac's Viva Glam V that everyone seems to rave about. I used it a couple of times and I can already admit that I don't feel comfortable when wearing it! I'll try layering it with a pinky lipgloss. Hopefully it works.

 

The liquid eyeliner: it's the Liquid Star Eyeliner in black. The reason I chose this one over the Bourjois liner is because it resembles a lot to Mac's Superslick Liquid Eye Liner that was launched with Fabulous Felines.

Everything about the two (except the typewriting) looks identical: the packaging, the same ml contents, the water resistant formula, the jet black shade, the shape of the sponge tip applicator... If anyone owns Mac's version, please let me know where it's made- the Art Deco one is made in Germany. I'll die of curiosity, whether the two are made in the same factory!

Have you bought anything from Art Deco recently? Share it below ;)

Happy blogging and reading and commenting to everyone!

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Some eyeshadow palettes

Hello my lovelies!

I know, I know- I've been absent from blogger during the last ten days; once again, I was out of Athens with no Internet service.

I didn't want to write a post of me leaving town as it must be boring for you- so from now on, if I post nothing for more than 5 days or I don't reply to your comments within 24 hours, then it's because I'm out of town. I'm not ignoring you in any way!

Back to what the title suggests; lately I've been wanting to get a couple of eyeshadow palettes- one with lots of colour choices like those generic you get from ebay, and the other with a magnetic pan to hold my single eyeshadows.

The first eyeshadow palette I got is from H&M, it holds 36 colours (including some matte shades!) and it cost me 6.95 euros.

Which yes, it is a steal- but not all shades are pigmented or blendable; nevertheless, seeing all those pretty colours packed neatly in a small palette made me so-so happy! Candy for my eyes, for sure ;)

The second palette I bought is from Art Deco. Oh, I've longed for it for so long!!!

It has a magnetic pan that fits perfectly 12 single Art Deco eyeshadows; it also has a big mirror which is quite handy. Measures 12 x 7.5 cm and it costs around 14-15 euros.

I'm on a mission to fill this up with some neutral colours... It will be fantastic for travel!

In conclusion, I'd like to read your thoughts on cheap eyeshadow palettes like this one from H&M or those generic with 120 colours you get from ebay: would you wear these products on your eyes, knowing that they're made in China and perhaps their ingredients are not tested for their compatibility with the eye area?

Happy blogging and reading and commenting to everyone!

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