July '12 favourites.

It's funny writing about summery beauty products, when it's sooo gloomy outside!
Want proof? Scroll down to the last pic...

Much like June, July was a pretty boring month of no-makeup days. Same story every summer; I seem to lose interest in makeup when the days get hotter! Hence, July's favourites consist of only a few bodycare products.

Apivita Face Sunscreen for oily-combination skin, SPF30: yet another Apivita product that exceeds in quality its equivalent by Korres. It spreads beautifully on my skin with less amount of shine, plus it leaves no white film on the face as it's slightly tinted! And smells lovely, too. Can't help but feel proud that Apivita products can be compared with the very best on the market!

Korres After Sun with Aloe Vera: you know me, I go gaga over anything containing aloe vera... This body milk is perfect to quench my skin after sunbathing. I could do without the strong floral scent (jasmine, perhaps?)- still, it's a nice product and I enjoy using it.

The Body Shop Coconut Beautifying Oil*: these new all-round oils from the Body Shop are THE BOMB. They're loaded with natural oils with no parabens and they work brilliantly for face, body and hair. Actually, a little birdie at the Body Shop told me they're planning to transition all of their products to paraben-free, so that's good news.

Thanks to a suggestion by Ria, I own my very first glitter nail polish! I tried wearing it on top of a nude shade, but I think it looks fantastic over pastel colours. I'm seriously tempted to paint all my nails with this stuff, it would probably looks so damn kitch but I don't care!

[The baby blue nail polish I'm wearing in this pic is part of the new Colour Riche range by L'Oreal, I couldn't help myself and bought a couple of these babies! Xcuse the sloppy application- apparently, painting thick layers of nail polish while the fan is blowing air on your nails is not a good idea- hello lil' air bubbles!]

Also, I thought I'd mention how I spent most of my days during past month: the mandatory Agatha Christie novel -no fuss, easy-going storyline that doesn't dissapoint- and my new video game, Tales of Monkey Island! I mean, Age of Empires is nice, Sims are even better, but sometimes nothing can compete with a dorky RPG aimed at teens ;)

And you thought Greece couldn't compete with England? The hell we can't! There's your evidence: rain and cloudy sky during August. Unheard of, but we did it. Can't say I'm not enjoying it, though; Bring on the autumn!

Now, be random: which are your favourite crime fiction novels?
Any RPG games worth looking into? Do share ;)

* The oil from TBS was given to me for free. I'm showing it some blog love because, well, I love it! Sharing my honest opinions, as always.

Evi   xx

March '12 favourites.

Lately, I've been trying to incorporate more bronzey tones in my makeup- must be the sunny weather that pushes me to warm up my face! So last month, I dug up a couple of some forgotten bronze makeup products and put them to the test.

This is everything that I loved using during March. Enjoy!

TBS Brush on Bronze: I've been using these beads a lot during past month; to me, they're way too orange to be classified as a bronzer- however, it looks so pretty when worn as a blush for that warm, coppery glow. FYI, this thing holds 28 gr, there's no way one will ever go through it! Is it a good or a bad thing, I wonder...
Elf palette with TBS bronze eyeshadows: This is the last custom palette featured on my blog, I promise! To be honest, bronze eyeshadows don't really flatter brown eyes (especially when combined with pale winter skin!), but I made them work with the following product:
Elf Duo Eyeshadow Cream in Black Licorice: if you have a brown eyeshadow that falls under "Team Woodwinked" -aka too orange when applied on the lids-, try layering it over a black or silver cream eyeshadow; that way, the orange hues subside and you're left with a more cool-toned shade. Obviously, you won't need this little tip if you have blue or green eyes- did I mention how lucky you are when shopping brown eyeshadows?
Mac Strobe cream: I recently attended a Mac seminar, where we were told that glowy/healthy skin is the #1 trend for this season- old news probably, but it was nice to be reminded of it. Anyway, I've been trying out Strobe cream mixed with my foundation and it works great! This "glow from within" is visible even after powdering. Brilliant!

Copy-cat perfume: this is a legit copy-cat, it smells pretty close to the original Cool Water cologne and it cost me less than a fiver! It's a nice alternative to your €€€ perfumes when you don't want to waste them on unimportant errands. I HIGHLY recommend you to check out the copy-cat cologne corner at Hondos Center, you'll be amazed by the available scents they sell!
Apivita hand cream with olive & cocoa butter: smells nice and does help to heal dry hands- though as soon as I use it up, I'm going for the new Korres hand cream with Almond oil! I'm trying my best to use greek products whenever I can ;)

Now, do share:
What have you been loving during March?

Evi   xx

Post-Christmas sale makeup haul

What a girl's gotta do when there's sales going on by one of her favourite makeup brands?

She shops and saves money at the same time!

That's right- when I was informed that there would be a 20% off purchases at the Body Shop, naturally I couldn't let that opportunity fly by!

Here's what I got:

      Baked-Eye-Colour in 01-Copper, 08-Amethyst 

Two more baked eyeshadows from the Body Shop's Baked-To-Last range. I specifically went through every compact to find the ones with the prettiest "marbling"- if that's a term, but you know what I mean ;)

To those saying these eyeshadows lack pigmentation: since they come in a different formula than your regular pressed eyeshadows, you can't really expect them to perform the same way. After a lot of practices, I came to the conclusion they perform their best when applied on top of a dark creamy base, or even better when both coordinating shades are layered on top of each other- and I mean lots of layers!

Also, for maximum pigment pay-off, baked eyeshadows can be safely used wet without worrying they'll be ruined.

Repurchased my precious! Lip&Cheek stain, as shown in my previous post. Bought two blushes with matte finish, as my makeup collection is lacking in matte blushes and the ones by Tarte are so hard to find- boo!!! The first one is by greek drugstore brand Radiant in #102-Apple Brown; the sales assistant assured me it's the best blush Radiant has to offer, we'll see if it lives up to her claims! On the right is Blush #09-Toast  from the Body Shop; it's a pretty natural-looking peachy shade, which I know I'm going to use a lot ;)

And for a bit of skincare: more Apivita mask sachets and two tinted lip balms, cause I can never have enough: one is by Apivita, and the other is a repurchase of one of my favourite lip butters by Korres ;)

Anything you shopped recently?
What's on your wishlist? Do share!

Evi   xx

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

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?

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

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!

CBSG5861

October favourites!

Hello my lovelies!

How was your October?
Me, I got sick and was stuck indoors for almost a week :(

Anyways, this is my October favourites post- hope you enjoy!

Korres Body Butter in Quince: As I've posted a month ago, my skin was so horribly dry; funnily enough, the Korres body milk actually worsened the situation... I was ready to give up on Korres until I decided to give the brand another try with this body butter, and I'm so happy I did! This stuff is magic: all flakiness is gone and my skin is back to normal again. Oh, and the fruity smell lingers on the skin for a long time, too ;)

Atrix hand cream: a staple since my childhood; there's always a tin with Atrix hand cream around the house. It's probably one of the best affordable hand creams on the market!

The Body Shop Bronzing Powder in shade #1: I wish I could describe its colour... Think of a light milk chocolate colour- no orange hues whatsoever, and it's matte! It's so hard finding a matte bronzer in the high street, don't you think? I apply it on the hollows of my cheeks with the...

Art Deco Duo fibre brush: Up until now, I only used this brush for foundation. After seeing Pixi2woo's videos where she applied bronzer with the Mac 187 brush for a softer effect, I did the same with this Art Deco brush and now I'm a convert!

Spare blush brushes: Have a crappy brush that comes with the blush compact? Don't throw it away!You can use it do dust off the eyeshadow fallout, as such a job requires a stiff brush.

Apivita face mask with orange: I got this sachet after a recommendation from a lovely reader of my blog- it contains some orange beads that dissolve when you rub the mask on your face... It's so fun to use! Very refreshing, and smells of orange. Perfect for me ;)

Mac lipstick in Hue: Oh, how I love this lipstick... I've worn it continuously during day&night! In my opinion, this should be Mac's all-time best seller lipstick, on top of Creme d' Nude and Angel.

Old-Biotherm-jumbo-lip-pen-in-a-raspberry-colour: I've come to realise that blue-toned lipsticks are friendly to olive/mediterranean skin, so I started to use up the old ones from my collection.

The Body Shop Shimmer Cubes: I simply adore this palette, not only because it contains one of my favourite eyeshadows (the taupe shade at the bottom right) but because it's so easy to travel with! It's quite pricey but you're getting 4x4 gr of baked product. I won't ever run out of it, ever!

Bourjois concealer/ highlighter pen: I used this product as an under eye concealer, but during October I tried it as a highlighter on any dark areas on my face or to highlight my cheekbones. The difference is noticeable but this product is undetectable!

What are your October favourites? Share them below ;)

Happy blogging and reading and commenting to everyone!

CBSG5861

Current Wishlist

Hello my lovelies!


How you've been?
Me, I've been extremely busy/ lacking Internet service, hence the lack of posts during past week :(


So here's a lazy wish-list of products I want to try out during October-November:


The Body Shop Nutriganics range



Apivita Express face mask sachets- recommendations are welcome ;)



L'Oreal Lash Serum- let me know if you tried it!





The Body Shop Metallic Eye Definer. All shades, preferably!


A hot pink lip liner, like hers. I wouldn't mind wearing this makeup all winter!


Lastly, I want a green nail colour. Ok, maybe two... I love green!


Please do share your current wishlists, I'd love to read them ;)

Hint hint hint: If you are Greek and you love Mac, click here and report back your thoughts.

Excited? Bored? Anticipating more material?



Happy blogging and reading and commenting to everone!

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

Two eye masks and one eye cream by Apivita

Hello my lovelies!

Just recently, after removing my makeup, I discovered a few fine lines around my eyes. Big deal, you might think. Well, as a solid sign of growing older, it was terrifying...

So I decided to pay a little more attention looking after the under eye area, while trying out some different product formulas available in the market.

Having used two eye creams from Korres and not being satisfied, I headed to the Apivita counter.

First off, I purchased two eye masks; and this was because I couldn't decide which one to get! You see, they are a lot different.

The first one is the anti-fatigue eye patches with rose extract.

Usage: You peel them off from the transparent paper, place it under the eyes, relax for 15 minutes and take them off.

Did I see any improvements on dark circles/puffiness/fine lines? No, for sure.

The second sachet is an anti-ageing eye mask with grape.

Usage: you take a small amount and spread it under your eyes right before you go to bed, sleep with it, and rinse it off in the morning.

Again: results? None! Plus I woke up every day to see a ghostly me in the mirror...

So then I bought the Aqua Vita eye cream, same brand. And finally, I'm satisfied!

It has 95% natural origin; it's a pleasure to use; feels moisturising but not greasy at all; makes my concealer spread like a dream on top of it; my fine lines seem to deminish because of the moisturising texture of this cream... I love it!

So, concluding this post:

If you're looking for an "instant fix" for dark circles/puffiness/fine lines around the eyes, you probably won't find a miracle cure. Instead, invest in a good eye cream- in the long term, the skin around the eyes will feel much more comfortable and look "rested"... And this is priceless!

Speaking of which, this Apivita eye cream cost me around 20 euros.

Anyways, please let me know if you've tried anything of the brand- or share your favourite eye cream ;)

Happy blogging and reading and commenting to everyone!

CBSG5861

Apivita's new website!

Hello my lovelies!


This is just a quick announcement; remember when I was whining that the new products of Apivita are nowhere to be found at their official website? Well at last, the brand changed and improved its homepage!!! I'm so, so excited about it- finally, all the new products are on display, I've spent almost half an hour browsing through the site and I'm not done yet!

What's more, under every product is a "SALES BEGIN NEXT WEEK" tag, which means that you can order products online if you live in the E.U. Yaaay!!!

To those who haven't heard of Apivita before, it is the second most popular (under Korres, of course) greek brand of natural skincare, and it offers great products for skincare, healthcare, aromatherapy, travel-friendly sachets and the unique Personal line of products- that I'm so fond of!

If you're interested about the brand, please pay a visit to the site- now I'm going to continue my browsing ;)

Happy blogging and reading and commenting to everyone!

CBSG5861

Apivita Personal Cleansing Milk

Hello my lovelies!

I'd like to share with you something "personal"... My Apivita milk cleanser!


I was getting sick of my make-up wipes; yes, they're easy to use but eventually I felt they dried out my oily skin. So this time I opted for a milk cleanser for taking off my make-up (I cleanse my face morning/night with this fabulous Body Shop gel cleanser).

Apivita's Personal range consists of seven fragrance-free basic formulas rich in natural composition to a level of 96%. Isn't that amazing? They are:

- Moisturising day cream SPF10
- Day&night cream
- Cleansing milk
- Tonic lotion
- Gentle shower gel
- Moisturising body milk
- Moisturising body cream



They can be used as they are, or you can add a choice of Apivita's organic essential oils according to your skintype or your current mood- hence the "personal" tag.

So I went to Apivita's counter at Hondos Center; you should see it, they have a special working area where they mix the formulas with an array of 24 essential oils! I wasn't allowed to take a picture, though :(


The sales assistant asked for my skintype, looked at my skin and fixed me the milk cleanser. My recipe? 8 drops of geranium and 6 drops of lemon.

At this point I should warn you: as the products are fragrance-free, they get the scent from the added essential oils. And I'm not talking about artificial scent, it's the real thing in all its heady glory! Surprisingly, this milk cleanser's composition smells like a turkish delight- and it's so intense that it almost gives me a headache! As for its cleansing properties, it's ok- a bit "runny" for my taste but nevertheless it performs well.

So, what do you think? Have you bought anything from Apivita's Personal range? Would you consider the addition of essential oils as a novelty or an unnecessary step?

Happy blogging and reading and commenting to everyone!

CBSG5861