Products I've used up!

Five months of meticulously using the same products have finally paid off:
I've now collected a bag full of empties to share with you!

Along with the Project-10-Pan, I've committed myself to use up most of my beauty products, i.e. all the junk that has taken over my bathroom, closet, and bookshelves...

Here is the first batch of the products I've used up!

The Body Shop Vitamin E face mist*: I've been familiar with this product before and I've already mentioned why I'm not really loving it. To put it shortly, it benefits dry or dehydrated skin- the conditioning Glycerin and Panthenol aid for that matter. However, what I'm looking for in a facial spray is an overall feeling of refreshment, not some extra moisture on top of my sunscreen or makeup. Would I repurchase it? Probably not.

Avene Thermal Spring Water: this, I love. I truly believe it helps my skin to be healthier and less irritated. I've used up yet another 50ml can and I'm planning to buy the big one (that bares a strong resemblance to hair spray!). Would I repurchase it? Hell yeah!

The Body Shop Seaweed Pore-Cleansing facial exfoliator: umm, allow me to rant over TBS some more... The Seaweed range is targeted to combination/oily skin and it carries some fantastic products- but, dear TBS, why make a face scrub that feels exactly like the Seaweed face wash with a few added grains? And the latter don't even exfoliate the skin! If I want to amplify my own face wash into a scrub, I'll add some baking soda instead. Would I repurchase it? Never- stay clear of it, people!

The Body Shop Aloe Calming facial cleanser: this, on the other hand, is lovely. Rich in Aloe Vera juice, no parabens, no fragrance, it gently cleanses the skin without stripping its moisture. I like it. Would I repurchase it? Definitely, some time in the future.

Collective haul: La Roche-Posay, Mac, Erre Due, etc.

Well well well, it's been four months since my last haul post;
that's quite an achievement!

If you know me, you'll be surprised by how little I've been shopping lately, cosmetics-wise. To be honest, I kinda enjoy it: it feels as if I've tamed my addiction and turned into a "normal" consumer. Seriously, this is EVERYTHING I bought during the last couple of months!

It's a mixture of some essentials, a couple of toiletries-
and a little makeup to sweeten the pot ;)

La Roche-Posay Hydraphase Intense Eyes: to everyone that commented on my eye cream post, thank you for making me come to my senses! I admit I was inclined towards Retinoids and eye roll-ons at first, though after reading your comments I realised that a good-quality moisturising eye cream was the best bet. I chose this one purely because of its ingredients: Caffeine and Hyaluronic Acid fractions? Swell, count me in! Paid: €18,10

Syoss Anti-Grease Dry Shampoo: isn't it a shame there's only three or four dry shampoos available in our stores? Booo... Rather than saving my hair from washing, I bought it in order to infuse some volume at the roots of the hair. By the way, if you happen to know any tips&tricks on the application of dry shampoo, do share! Paid: €4,80

Products I regret buying!

Giving negative reviews is not my thing, though sometimes it's just inevitable!

As much as I love discovering new products, I hate it when something doesn't perform as it should! I've become quite prudent with my "beauty budget", so anything that falls short of expectations turns me off :(

Today's "suspects":

Needless to say, all three are going straight to the bin. Wasting money sucks!
Having said that, I hope this post will be helpful to those of you who are curious about those products: read on to see why I wouldn't recommend not one of 'em!

1/9/2011 haul; and I found a new hobby!

It was a hot and humid day, today.
And what better way to keep my spirits high than beauty hauling!

Seriously now, I don't need any excuses to shop on beauty products...
Just thought that ANY introduction than the meaningless "hey, look what I got" is always nicer!
No? Didn't work? Eh well, I'm still working on my English writing skills :P

Garnier 7-days body lotion with Aloe Vera: I'm so glad Garnier improved their bodycare line and came up with this! Anything with aloe vera "hits a nerve" on me, so naturally I was sold the minute I saw it on the shelves...

TBS Elderflower eye gel: back in my teens, I would dream of becoming older so as to be eligible to use this particular product! That's right, the Body Shop got me hooked in their skincare so early in age... I've read mixed reviews about it though :/

Apivita Bee Princess bio-eco lip care: tres, tres cute! I finally spotted it on my closest Hondos Center, as it was sold out in all pharmacies near my place. Specially packaged for little princesses, like myself! lol

Korres Mandarin lip butter in Pink: a repurchase! Mentioned it before and I'll say it once again: I simply adore the new revamped packaging of the Korres lip butters in the stick form. I'd also love to see a similar pattern on Jasmine lip butter...

TBS Seaweed face scrub: hmmm... Not that it's crap, but it seems that it has the same liquid base as the regular Seaweed cleanser with the sole addition of Jojoba stones... Not very thoughtful, if you ask me!

Apivita face mask sachets with Prickly Pear: what can I say, I'm hooked to Apivita's express masks! No further explanations here...

And to justify the latter half of this post's title:

Ta-daaa!!!

It's a pocket-size sketchers' box filled with 12 water colours.
Yep, I'm gonna start playin' all smart and sophisticated, strolling around the city and capturing the moment with my charming drawings...
*pukes from excessive cheesiness*

Ok, it's not as exciting as bungee-jumping but suits me fine!
I'm the extreme opposite of a thrill-seeker at heart ;)

What are your hobbies, old and new ones?
I'd love to know!

CBSG5861

20% sales at the Body Shop! A haul

Hi lovelies!

As you all may know, the Body Shop holds a period of 20% sales twice a year-

so last week, I grabbed the opportunity and bought me some essential and some not-so-essential goodies ;)

Here's what I got:

Tea Tree Foaming Cleanser: I desperately needed a strong acne-targeted cleanser to help my skin heal from a recent  acne breakout. It also contains cooling menthol, of which I'm a big, big fan! So far, so good- I like it loads than the regular Tea Tree cleanser!

Tea Tree Facial Exfoliating Pads: if there wasn't any sales, I wouldn't be getting this... I used a pad last night- no decent exfoliation, the tea tree scent is so strong and sickening... I wish I had tried a sample in the store!

Cheek Colour in #04-Golden Pink: allegedly, it's a dupe to Orgasm blush by Nars- and I'm always sold by such bold statements! At first I was put off by the looks of it -a not so special orange?- but luckily it swatches just as the name suggests: a pretty pink with gold shimmer.

Baked Eye Colour in #07-Sapphire: ok, so this wasn't a necessity; I've done my share of buying baked eyeshadows and not feeling satisfied with the pigment pay-off... But this time I simply couldn't resist it! Both shades have beautiful and smooth shimmer, can't wait to use this duo during my vacations!

Metallic Eye Definer in #13-Burnished Amber: the girl at the cashier told me that it can be worn on the lips, too! It's extremely soft and, compared to the rest of the shades, leaves pigment on the waterline. Neat ;)

What about you, girls-

have you done any shopping from the Body Shop lately?

CBSG5861

Korres Thyme Honey scrub + mask review

As you can see, I've made good use of this little duo-
so now I can put my thoughts together on a review:

First off, I'd like to point out that my skin type is combination to oily,
with a medium to high sensitivity level;
these two products are marketed for normal to dry skin,
so please bear that in mind when reading this post ;)

Thyme Honey scrub:

the smell: well naturally, it smells of honey!
the texture: it contains bamboo and walnut stone particles; they're fairly big and rather sparse in the scrub formula, which ensures a gentle exfoliation and eliminates the risk of red skin.
my verdict: to my skin, it feels so gentle that I can safely use it daily. The honey smell is not my favourite, however I'm thinking of getting a little tube of this scrub for my holidays to replace my usual facial wash!

Thyme Honey mask:

the smell: now that's odd... I could swear it smells of bitter almond! Seriously! It definitely smells nothing like the scrub. Just sayin' ;)
the texture: it's a white moisturising paste with a silky texture- not like a hard body butter or a runny body lotion. After I washed it off, my skin was soft and moisturised.
the verdict: hmm... If it was given to me as a gift, I would use it up for sure- but I'd rather try out a mask for oily skin, instead. Still, it should work brilliantly on dry skin.

Two more things that ought to be mentioned:

the 10ml tube packaging: hygienic, travel-friendly and it won't take you ages to finish a tube and move on to another scrub/mask!
the price: if I'm correct, it's 2,90E for each tube- bargainliscious!

Have you tried any of these little tubes before?
Which is your favourite face scrub+mask combination?

CBSG5861

Korres haul

So yesterday I was strolling around Hondos Center-

and naturally enough, I couldn't leave the place without doing some little shopping to cheer up my moods ;)

This time, I headed to Korres:

Wild Rose face cream: after feeling terribly bad for not using a daily moisturiser with SPF, I thought of making a nice and mild introduction to SPF with this moisturiser, which has an SPF 6. As you can see, the packaging has changed- for the better, IMO. What do you girls think?

Mandarin lip butter in Purple: having now tried all 13 lip butters by Korres, I can conclude to my favourites: Jasmine in the pot, Pink and Peach in the tube form ;)



Thyme Honey cleansing scrub+mask: after using a couple of products marketed to normal/dry skin and liking them a lot, it was a nice opportunity to make a little break from my Apivita olive scrub and express masks with this duo... We'll see how they work on my combination skin!

Honeysuckle hand cream: this was a rather impulse buy; it reminisced of the aroma of honeysuckle flowers that my dad used to bring us every week when I was little... <3 <3 <3

It all cost me around 30E-
heck, brands like Mac may be pricier in Greece,
but we always have good ol' Korres to splurge on without guilts!!!

So, have you tried any of these products?
Which are your favourites from Korres?

CBSG5861

Current Skincare

Hi lovelies,

During past month I've switched my skincare routine because I can't stop feeling some kind of bitterness towards some products I previously used-

I'm looking at you, Korres Materia Herba moisturizer:
you've been a great match but I don't fell like scooping out 35 euros just for your sake >:(

So these are the products I'm currently testing out:

Korres 3 in 1 Cleansing Water: love this, wrote about it in my previous post.
The Body Shop Nutriganics face wash & toner: hmm, both average- not harsh but they seem to do nothing on my skin. Won't repurchase those...
Apivita Aloe mask: what can I say, I'm amazed by Apivita's little sachets- I've yet to find one that doesn't live up to my standards!
Apivita Aqua Vita eye cream: a nice moisturiser for under the eyes, although I'll definitely buy a different product once I'm through with this one.
The Body Shop Tea Tree oil & blemish gel: I'll probably write another post about these two treatments when I've tested them long enough to see if they work... or not.
The Body Shop Aloe day cream: I like this moisturiser a lot, much like the whole Aloe range by the Body Shop- all products are high in aloe juice (it always comes first in the ingredients list) and they contain the least amount of preservatives (so they have a shorter shelf life). Mild formulas, excellent for my combination and sensitive skin. Thumbs up for aloe! 
Apivita face scrub with Lavender and Olive: another favourite, this is probably one of the best face scrubs I've tried so far! It contains crushed olive stones, salicylic acid and menthol- hence the cooling effect when you wash it off ;)

So, any of you tried these products? What's your skincare routine?

P.S.: Today was a marvellous day which called for celebration: we had snowflakes in Athens, yay!!! During past week, the weather was awfully hot for December standards; so at last, winter is officially here and I'm over the moon about it! If you read my blog long enough, you'll probably know I'm more into chilly days than the hot and humid summer season. Too bad there was no wine and biscuits in the cupboard for a proper little fiest :(

CBSG5861

September favourites!

Hello my lovelies!

This is my first "monthly favourites" post, hope you enjoy!

...Family pic  =D

First off, during September I started layering my blushes and I love it! I found that the end result is more interesting than a swipe of one colour on the cheeks.

Favourite combination:

a matte coral as a base (Biotherm blush, left),

with a topping of a coral/gold shimmer (Seventeen blush in Coral, center- see my review here),

or a pinky/icy shimmer powder (The Body Shop Shimmer Waves in 02- Blush, right- see my review here).

My favourite makeup look that I wore during September was the easiest and quickest to do:

A little foundation and concealer,

eye primer and mascara,

a rosey cream blush (Manhattan Mousse Rouge in Apricot, left),

and a darker pink lipstick (Biotherm lipstick, discontinued).

I look pretty and polished in 5 minutes' time!

 

I also discovered a way to do the perfect smokey eye with brown eyeshadow!

You see, if you have brown eyes like me, you soon find out two things:

One, that you have to stay away from warm-toned eyeshadows, and

Two, that a smokey eye with brown eyeshadows doesn't really make brown eyes pop :(

But with a little experiment, I dished both of the above rules.

So, this is my improved version for a brown smokey eye:

a dark base on the lid (smudged black pencil, cream eyeliner, anything),

a cool-toned brown on top (The Body Shop eyeshadow in Chocolate, left),

a warm-toned medium brown in the crease (The Body Shop mineral eyeshadow in Bronzed Amber, right)

black eyeliner, mascara... and you're done!

See, I made a ridiculous demonstration on the back of my hand...

Seriously, it looks like a prehistoric creature living in the deep seas, lol!

Anyways, moving on:

During September I bought the Body Shop's blender brush (see my review here),

and Carbon eye pencil- the softest I've found, although not the blackest...

Nevertheless, love them both!

I also found a new use for my Korres lip butter stick:

wearing it on top the Erre Due Silky lip pencil in #61.

See? A nice sheer brown-nude shade, perfect for daytime.

Skincare-wise, my favourite product of the month has to be the Apivita exfoliating cream with olive and lavender. Its granules are from crushed olive stones and give a deep exfoliation, just how I like a proper face scrub to be!

It also contains Menthol -which gives a "cooling" feel on the skin- and Salicylic Acid -a big surprise, thumbs up Apivita!

Last but not least, the lovely fellow greek blogger Stella sent me this beautiful ring by Mark Jacobs from an older giveaway that I won. Thank you so much, girl!!!

 

Needless to say, I wear it every-single-day since I got it!

 

On the diameter of the ring it's inscribed the Latin phrase "Veritas Inlustrat", which probably means "Shining Truth". I'm not sure though, I've never had a Latin class!

I'd love to read you favourites of the month,
please share them below or post a link to your September favourites post ;)

Happy blogging and reading and commenting to everyone!

CBSG5861