My everyday FOTD!

Hello beautiful people!
Here's a short post on what I slap on my face every day ;)

Above all, I'm a creature of habit. There's nothing I hate more than standing each morning in front of a mirror with a bag full of makeup products, trying to make a decision on what to put on my mug to disguise the "I don't wanna wake up!" look...

Of course, I enjoy experimenting with makeup- though nowadays I only do it on evenings when I have time to spare and indulge into each step.

Since I'm a renown lazy **s, I've been following a quick&easy routine that translates to a natural face with a certain piece de resistance. That means: a light coverage foundation worn with a bit of bronzer, eyes bare from eyeshadow, and a kick-ass red lipstick...

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*

Foundation series: Maybelline FIT ME

This is part 1 of a new blog series about the foundations I've been testing out,
I hope you enjoy it!

I'm sure you've fully grasped by now the ever-growing demand for "dewy" foundations; it was only a matter of time until the drugstore makeup brands joined the bandwagon. FIT ME is Maybelline's newest foundation that caters for that natural, but flawless look. And I love it to bits.

Packaging aside (a pleasant surprise by Maybelline!), there's so much to love about this foundation. It all comes down to its sophisticated formula:

An average foundation usually contains oils, waxes, fillers and powder pigment particles. Fit Me is free from all such ingredients; instead, they're replaced with a transluscent base and lightweight pigments that let the skin breathe, while providing a natural coverage. The result is a glowing, flawless face that looks like skin- and most importantly, there's zero cakiness guaranteed.

Now, all this babble means nothing if the product doesn't deliver what it claims, right? Well, I'm here to tell you that I can feel a massive difference on my face when I wear this foundation.

A (much needed) Project-10-Pan

I can feel it, this is going to be a year full of changes ;)
Following my decision to turn to pharmaceutical brands for my skincare,
here's a second commitment:

As the title of this post suggests, I'm starting a Project-10-Pan. I'm sick of my ever-growing makeup collection, it's ridiculous and it has to stop! So, along with a few tossing of some old and forgotten makeup products, I've put aside 10 that I must go through asap.

Now, some of you may cringe on the type of products I've chosen for this makeup ban-
but mind you, I've deliberately switched the "rules", in order to make it a pleasant experience overall and help me be 100% committed to it!

     Someone's cheating BIG TIME!

I know, I know- lip balms and tiny foundation samples shouldn't be part of a proper P10Pan... Believe it or not, I tend to wear less makeup nowadays, so much so that finishing all these products will actually take me quite a while! Here's another "twist" I've imposed on this project:

My Christmas wishlist

I know, I know- it's way too early to even speak out the word "Christmas", but it's nice to anticipate a big and exciting event, isn't it? Besides, I want to be 100% ready when the 2012 countdown begins- I have this weird habit of saving up some special products only to start using them on the 1st of January :P

Dior Amber Diamond powder: it's been like 1,5 year since I first heard about this beauty over at theGlossGoss, and it's still in my wishlist! I think it's about time I crossed it off my list, don't you think?

A red matte lipstick by Mac: I'm torn between Russian Red, Ruby Woo or Lady Danger... It's so hard to pick just one! Any recommendations, please?

Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation: As much as I hate having duplicates of foundations, concealers, powders, etc., I'm starting to realise that a girl needs to have 2 different foundations at hand: one offering light coverage for daytime and the other with a medium to full coverage for evenings out or when the skin's condition really needs it. This Bourjois foundation falls under the 2nd category; word has got around that it smells like my beloved Chanel Bronze Universel!!!

The Body Shop new Shimmer Cubes: I've already purchased the top right palette and got nothing but good things to say about it! 2 more shimmer cubes to snatch until Christmas!

A new perfume: ahhh, there's so many new scents to choose from! Although I desperately want to try out the new Aqua di Gioia Essenza; I've always been a fan of the Armani perfumes, with Aqua dio Gio (the men's cologne) being my favourite. Can't wait to have a peek at the new perfume sets, too!

Fancy candles: For once, I'd like to step away from the generic Ikea candles, please! The ones pictured above are reasonably priced- for a fancy candle, that is! Nothing like the Diptyque candles' price tag- 46+ euros? Hell no to that!!!

What's in your Christmas wishlist? Do share!
xx

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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

CBSG5861

The "meeeh!" products of the moment

...where "meeeh!" refers to those I've been recently trying out and don't fit under my "best of" or "worst ever" list of beauty products.
Yeah, I keep doing lists like that... No, I'm not an organizing freak. No I'm not, no I'm not, no I'm not... 

Korres Wild Rose moisturiser: please don't hate me for saying this, but the only positive I can find about this product is the "formula facts" list where it's stated than it contains no petrochemicals, parabens, etc. Other than that: it takes time for the cream to be fully absorbed on the skin, otherwise you run the risk of those nasty white marks all over your face... Oh, and don't get me started on the pathetic SPF6. I mean, really? SPF6 and it claims to be an all-round moisturiser? Please...

TBS Vitamin E face mist: you can definitely smell the rosewater in this moisturising spritz (as it turns out, I'm all for hardcore synthetic rose blends rather than the real thing, but I digress). The main issue I have with this product is that upon application, it's not that refreshing... Heck, plain tap water feels definitely more refreshing than that! Although I must point out that it does moisturise your face, as it claims to do- but I think my oily skin could be without this extra layer of moisture :/

TBS Moisture foundation: ok, so I don't 100% hate this foundation, it's just that my skin needs a bit more coverage than what this product has to offer. However, I'm not giving up the hunt for a low coverage foundation; my next choices would be Mac's face&body or the popular Bourjois 10-hour sleep effect foundation. Or a nice tinted moisturiser? Or even a BB cream? Ah, I could go on forever, the list is endless!

Anyone want to share her current "meeeh!" products?

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My beach make-up

I don't know about you girls-
but me, I'm always planning ahead on what make-up I'm going to wear
on the beach every summer!

These are my current picks:

Face: sunscreen all the way! This is the Korres Watermelon face cream with SPF20 from last year (it has a 24M tag so I think it's ok to use it). As my skintone lacks uniformity and to save me some time, I'll be mixing it with my foundation and ta da, skin's done in no time!

Cheeks: it's a no brainer this year, def going to be my new Soleil Tan de Chanel! Since it's a cream formula, it's going to blend beautifully on top of my sunscreen+foundation, while keeping up with the "bronzed skin" theme ;)

Eyes: curled lashes and mascara, only when I want to look really polished... I mean, since I'll be wearing sunglasses all the time, what's the point in putting on eye make-up at all? I'm strictly avoiding any uneccessary tugging of my eyes from wearing or removing eye make-up.

Lips: I'm so glad my sister got me this Suntint by Mac, cause it's the perfect treat for my lips to use while on the beach! It's basically a liquid lipbalm with SPF20; it has a slight pale pink tint and fine gold shimmer running through it. The squeeze-tube packaging is perfect, as it won't collect sand like the traditional lip glosses with the wand. AND it won't melt on my bag like regular lip butter sticks...

So, what's your beach make-up routine?
Any of you going bare faced under the sunnies?

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April favourites!

 Hey loves!

Another "monthly favourites" post for you today-
the products mentioned below were also the main features of my holiday makeup bag, as well:

TBS Moisture foundation: this may not be the best-ever foundation I've tried so far, but it's heaps better from the previous used Oil-free version; review coming soon ;)

TBS Shimmer Cubes: when it comes to my travel makeup bag, I always include a neat&cute eyeshadow palette; apart from the top left honey gold colour, I made good use of the rest of the shades during Easter.

Seventeen nail polish in 219: as I haven't yet experimented with the season't hot pastel nail colours, this coral shade served me great to transition my manicure from dark wintery reds and browns to spring's brights.

Mac Hue lipstick: what I like the most about this lipstick is its buildable coverage- during daytime, I can wear it as a soft wash or I can layer it on evenings for a glossy nude mouth! An essential product when I'm travelling.

Korres Jasmine lip butter: I so love the soft nude effect it gives on the lips, but I still can't get over the plastic pot container! If you ever see a girl on the streets using a hand sanitiser before applying this lip balm, that's probably me...

I was also going to include this old plum blush from Biotherm- but no, the clumsy little me had to drop it on the floor and ruin it completely...
Took me two days to get over it!

What were your most used products during April?

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Spring haul

Over the past few days I did some spring-appropriate make-up shopping!
Here's what I got:

Mac pro eye makeup remover: I opted for this water-based solution, since my previous dual-phase remover by Bourjois made my eyelashes fall in triplets! AND it caused me some nasty milia spots...

TBS Moisture Foundation SPF 15: I couldn't tolerate any longer my oil-free foundation by TBS, so it was a good chance to try out a different formula. This one promises light to medium coverage with a dewy finish. We shall se how it performs on my combination skin ;)

Radiant lip pencil in 06-Salmon: I'm in LOVE with this shade! A bright lemonade pink, that's how I would describe it- not exactly coral, not thoroughly pink... Am I making any sense here? I pair it with Elf's Hypershine gloss on top and it instantly brighens up my complexion! Oh, and it glides beautifully on the lips. I highly recommend it!

TBS Metallic eye definer in Glowing Amethyst: I was partly dissapointed in this eye pencil; the colour is gorgeous but sadly it doesn't show up on the waterline, if worn alone. However, I can make it work on top of a black kohl pencil.

TBS Baked eye colour in Jade: these two shades are a combination of green with blue hues and let me tell you, if you're brown eyed like me, these colours are bound to make your eyes pop! I can see myself using it a lot during summer...

Have you done any spring make-up shopping recently?

Oh and by the way, does anyone know whether Mac skincare items are eligible for the Back-2-Mac programme?

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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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Late night randomness

I'm back with a ramble of insignificant matters on cosmetics and such...
Do prepare yourself for photos via google search- sorry girls, I'm feeling a little lazy today ;)

First off, I recently saw a vid of Enkore where he pretty much said that if you have oily skin, it's almost impossible for your foundation not to oxidize -especially if you're using a powder-, which means that if you're going to shop for a foundation/powder, you should always match the colour after it has oxidized on your skin.

Man, I wish I'd read it sooner! I had a hunch that this was the case with my liquid foundation...



...or my setting powder...



...they both look darker on me after 5-10 minutes of application!
I'm not wasting them, though; as soon as I (kind of) hit pan on both, they'll be replaced ;)

Secondly:
I'm sick and tired of Elf!



What puts me off is that there's no way the products you want are all going to be in stock at the same time! You've got to make some compromises and choose between the available products, it's just that I have a hard time doing so...

The blush&bronzer duo is out of stock- and I'm not willing to make an order without it! So it's going to be postponed.
Damn it :(

I'm also on the lookout for a fun, vibrant lipstick by Mac!



After a lot of search online, I've narrowed down a list of the following:
Show Orchid
Pink Nouveau
Lustering
Lickable

Anyone tried these before, which one would you recommend?
Let me know, loves ;)

Oh, and one more thing: remember my review on Mac's Prep+Prime Eye?

Well, the product still doesn't work for me but it's excellent for mature/very dry skin!
I tried it once on my mum- it covered her red veins and made the eyeshadow glide on the lids. I should have figured this out before I published my review- I mean, it's silicone based, it obviously provides some kind of "slip" on the lids, so it must be good for dry skin.
Pure common sense!

That's it for today...
Hopefully I'll publish another post tomorrow, I've neglected this little blog during past week and I feel so baaad!

Mwah :* :* :*

CBSG5861

Don't ever buy this foundation!

Hello my lovelies!


This is what you would call the opposite of a "product rave" post... I'm talking about the Body Shop's Oil-Free foundation. This stuff is nothing but... crap! Let me explain why:

1. It seems that it never absorbs on the skin, it just sits there. I figured it out when I tried to use my beloved cheek stain from the Body Shop after a sheer application of this product; I was left rubbing an opaque mix of foundation/stain on my cheeks, eeeww!!!

2. It makes my skin look as if I have dry spots! Which I don't! This is how much it dries out my skin; and to make things worse, the foundation concentrates on any flaky areas -that itself is causing!- and the result is so grose!!

3. It oxidizes like no other! At first, when I apply it on my face, the shade (04) matches perfectly my skincolour. But after a couple of minutes when it dries, it turns into 2 shades darker! See for yourself:

A blob of the product. See, the shade matches the bottle.

Spreaded on my hand and waited for it to dry... Hello, stranger!

So people, stay away from this product. It might have a nice packaging (I love that it's airtight with a nice pump), it also has an SPF 15, it is affordable, but... No. No. Total waste of money :(

Feel free to post below the worst foundations that you've tried ;)

Happy blogging and reading and commenting to everyone!

CBSG5861

Summer make-up haul

Hello my lovelies!

Last week I did some fun shopping... No, it wasn't clothes- as much as I looked around, there was nothing cute to be found on stores like Zara, H&M and the like :(

Anyway, onto the haul:


I got...

- Korres Watermelon sunscreen face cream spf 20: Yummy!!!
- Erre Due Silky lip liner in #61
- Garnier Pure Active roll-on for acne spots
- Korres Jasmine lip butter... It still won't reach my HG products, but I got it anyway...
- Korres Mandarin lip butter stick spf15, colourless. Lovely nude shade!
- Art Deco eyeshadow in #61, a matte light grey colour
- Bourjois Anticernes brush concealer
- 2 Erre Due nail colours, a detailed post is coming ;)
- The Body Shop liquid foundation for oily skin. So far, I hate it...
- Manhattan Mousse Rouge- this beats Maybelline's dream mousse blush any time!

So, what did you get for your summer make-up bag? Any funky nail colours? Let me know, loves ;)

Happy blogging and reading and commenting to everyone!

CBSG5861