Saturday, September 28, 2013

Collective Feelunique, Drugstore & Sephora Haul

It's been a while since I've done a haul post, not because I haven't been hauling at all, but because my hauls were really small and random and I was waiting so I would gather a few products and then show them to you guys. If you follow me on Instagram, you can see pictures of my mini hauls all the time. Most of the items I hauled are drugstore and also an order I did a while ago from Feelunique.
From Feelunique I ordered 2 things, the Redken Hair Cleansing Cream Shampoo and the Burt's Bees Sensitive Night Cream. The Redken Hair Cleansing cream is a very famous clarifying shampoo in the beauty community , I've been wanting to buy it for years and I finally caved in. I've only tried it once and I have to say that this stuff is really, really strong, it completely dried out my scalp, so that means that it does work but next time I'll have to be careful and not leave it for more than 5 minutes on my scalp before I rinse it off. Also the smell is amazing, it has a gorgeous fresh lemon scent which I love.
The Burt's Bees Sensitive Night Cream was an impulse purchase, I've been trying different skincare products for a while now, and I wanted to get a moisturizer for when my skin reacts to the weather changes, and that happens to me a lot. Until now my skin has been really good, so I can't say how it works when my skin is drier and itchy, but I have been using it for a week or so, and it's really good. It has a very light texture, I can easily blend it on my skin and it doesn't feel sticky at all. It can be a little heavy to be used under makeup that's why I've been avoiding that, but for night time it's really good.
Now to the drugstore goodies, I got this new Garnier Fructis Goodbye Damage Split Ends Serum for my hair. I love trying drugstore hair products, and whenever I see a new one at the store I know I have to get it. I don't usually use hair serums, I only use hair creams and oils for straightening my hair, but I got this to use it just at the ends. I've used it a couple of times and what really surpsrised me is how thick this product is, it has a texure between a serum and an oil and it leaves my ends really soft. Also, I absolutely adore the bright orange packaging, isn't it beautiful?
Well as you can see I went a bit crazy and hauled a bunch of mascaras, and the funny part is that I never combine mascaras, I only use one for 3 months or so. I first purchased the Radiant Professional Studio Perfect mascara because of the lovely youtuber Lucy, it's her HG mascara and I wanted to use it even though I knew that it has a rubber brush which I'm not particularly a fan of them, but I got it anyway. Radiant Professional is a greek brand and I'm not sure if and where its sold outside Greece. To me it's a very basic mascara, it only gives me length because let's face it, I'm not blessed with full lashes like Lucy, but I like the fact that it holds a curl. 
I also got the Sephora Lash Plumper mascara in Ultra Black because Sephora had a great deal for about two weeks, you could buy any Sepora mascara for only10 euros. I haven't purchased a Sephora mascara before, so this is my first time. I haven't opened it yet because I'm saving it for later, but I read really good reviews about it, I read that it gives volume and keeps the lashes really soft, which are the two things that I'm always looking for in a a mascara.
Lastly for mascaras, I saw this new packet at the Essence stand, you get the new Get Big Lashes Triple Black and the Get Big Lashes Waterproof mascaras for the price of one, which is only 2.9 euros! I just couldn't get pass up this deal, they were so cheap, and they had tones of them so if you want them you should definitely check out your nearest Essence stand and grab one. I haven't try them either because I'm saving them for later.
I also purchased a few more stuff from Essence, I got a new base coat because my HG one from Radiant Professional became very gooey and I needed to replace it but I decided to try the Pro White Hardener instead, from the Essence's Studio Nails line. It's a very basic base coat in my opinion, it does the job but I don't think it's as great as the Vitamin Force from Radiant. 
I also got the Lash & Brow clear mascara, I don't usually use clear mascara for my brows, especially since the last one I had from The Body Shop was awful, it was really wet and it was leaving  my brows hard. This one from Essence is not like that at all, is doesn't leave tons of product on my brows, I really like it, and if you're searching for inexpensive clear mascara you should check this one out.
Lastly from Essence I got a lip liner in #11 In The Nude, I got this one because it was the most nude of all the shades they have, and because my HG shade the #1 Soft Rose was discontinued, it was a pink nude, this one is more of a beige nude but it's still very pretty.



So that's all the stuff that I hauled the past few weeks, I also hauled a few more stuff lately from the drugstore and online but I will do a seperate post when I'll have them all in my hands. 
Have you tried any of these products, did you like them? Let me know!

Sunday, September 22, 2013

The Body Shop HoneyMania & Colour Crush Launch.

Last week I was lucky enough to get invited to the Body Shop's HoneyMania and Colour Crush launch here in Athens. I got to see all the products from the new body line Honeymania and the brand new Colour Crush lipsticks and play with them a little bit. 

The whole line of Honeymania really impressed me. First of all the smell, all the products has a sweet but floral smell which is not overpowering, the floral part surprised me because I was expected a sickening sweet honey smell, but no, the smell it's just amazing. The line includes a body butter, a shower gel, a body scrub, a perfume, a cute honeycomb shaped soap and a lip butter.
I have to say that the new lipstick line was the star of the event, with 24 new shades, 6 reds, 9 pinks and 9 nudes. These lipsticks have a soft, almost glossy texture, that glide on the lips like butter.
We also had a small surpise, we all were sent home with a gift, the HoneyMania Body Butter and a shade of the Colour Crush lipstick.
The lipstick I got is the shade 315 Coral Kiss, seriously it was like I picked up the color by myself, I'm a such sucker for anything peachy and coral! It's a light peachy shade with a few silver shimmers and it has a fruity scent which I love. The texture is something between a satin and a glossy one. The swatch makes the lipstick look more pigmented than it actually is on my lips, but you can definitely build up the color. 
The body butter has got to be one of the best body butters I've tried so far from the Body Shop and I  mean that! I think I like it even better than my beloved Shea Butter. The texture is what hooked me, it's really moisturizing and yet light enough to absorbed into the skin, something that the Shea Butter fails to do. The smell is pure heaven, a mix of floral and sweet together, which I think it's perfect for seasons like fall and spring. I want to try more products from the HoneyMania line, especially the lip butter and the soap, I'm addicted to soaps!
Have you tried anything from the HoneyMania line or the new Colour Crush lipsticks? What are your favorites? Let me know!


Monday, September 16, 2013

Erre Due Volumizing Waterproof Mascara Review.


A couple of months ago I received this mascara from Erre Due, which is a greek company, to try it out and see if I like it or not and share my opinion about it. They also send me a blue one but the review is about the black one, since I never wear colored mascaras.
Brush - Texture
This mascara comes with a plastic brush, which is not too long or thick which I personally like, I prefer smaller brushes because they give me more control, this one grabs and brushes all my lashes really well. As you can see the spikes are longer on the outer end than the ones on the inner side, that gives to my lashes more of a feather look.
Now about the texture, when I first opened the mascara it was really and I mean really wet. It literally took 30 minutes to dry on my lashes, because everytime I was touching them my fingers was a complete mess, and that is something that is not suppose to happen with a waterproof mascara. It was very difficult to use it so I gave this mascara a month to dry out a bit so I can properly use it. After a month I noticed that the mascara still took a little time to dry out, but not 30 minutes like before, it took about 10 minutes, which is still a long time but I'm a patient person.

Application
Even though I had problems with the texture of this mascara, I really enjoyed the result! It gives length and amazing seperation to the lashes, it doesn't give much volume even though the mascara is called "volumizing", but to be honest  I didn't expect it anyway because of the brush, brushes that are that small and plastic never manage to give volume to my lashes. But the most exciting thing, at least for me, is that it holds an amazing curl, I never experienced something like that with another mascara before! I always use an eyelash curler before I use a mascara, and after I use this one my lashes look even more curled and it stays on until I remove it, which is pretty amazing. Girls with straight lashes like me, know that finding a mascara that does that, is really hard to find. I know that waterproof mascaras are supposed to keep your lashes more curled than the regular ones but I've tried other waterproof mascaras in the past, even though I'm not a fan of them, and didn't give me that result.

Price
It retails for 14 euros and you can find it only in Greece at stores like Hondos Center and Galerie De Beaute. It's not a cheap mascara but all the drugstore/high street mascaras here have pretty much the same price, like the Loreal and Maybelline ones.


Pros
-It keeps my lashes really well curled, until I remove it.

- It gives a feather look.

-The brush is small and the spikes grab all the lashes and brush them.


Cons
My only and huge minus of this mascara is the texture. It has a really wet texture, it takes like forever to dry out, and you can really cause a mess on the lower lashlines. And even after a month it takes about 10 minutes to fully dry out.


Rating: 6/10
I didn't want to give this mascara such a low rating, because I really do love the result it gives, but the texture just ruins it all, and that's the main reason why I wouldn't buy it in the future. But another reason for not wanting to purchase it, is that I almost never wear waterproof mascaras, so I would barely use it.


If you've tried this mascara before, let me know your opinion about it.



Wednesday, September 4, 2013

July & August Favorites.

This year like the previous one I decided not to post my July favorites and post together my July and August favorite products in one post, just because at summertime I don't usually wear make up that often and also because the whole July I was experimenting with some new products that I got. I think now it's the perfect time to show you what I enjoyed the most this summer. Sorry in advance because this post contains too many pictures!
Frezyderm Face Foundation PF30 
 I've talked a lot about this foundation in my blog for more than a month, I really really like it! It's a foundation and a sunscreen in one, which is very convient because I didn't have to use 2 different products on my face. It's also good for oily skintypes and it stays on for hours!

  Benefit Boi-ing Concealer
This concealer really saved me the past moht because I had some bad skin days and I broke out a lot around my chin. This concealer is actually one of the best I've tried for covering pimples and redness! The shade #3 is the best for my skintone ( NC25) but under my eyes the #2 looks better, sometimes I like to mix both shades.
Seventeen Cafe Au Lait Matte Blusher
I've talked about this blush like a million times, I switched from a traditional bronzer to this and I'm very happy, it gives to my face a beautiful warm tanned look. I'm pretty sure I'll continue using this for the next few months a lot!

Essence Secret It-Girl Silky Touch Blush
This blush is the only I've been using for a little over a month, it's beautiful, pigmented, matte and peachy, what more could I ask? Propably one of the best peachy blushes that can be found in the drugstore, and it's so cheap!
Essence Dreaming Under a Cherry Tree quad
I didn't use much for my eye make this whole time besides a mascara, bust sometimes whenever I was feeling the need to use a little more color on my lids I used the peachy and the coral shade from this Essence palette. this palette was released with the Cherry Blossom Girl collection last fall, too bad it was limited edition.
Mac Pleasureseeker Lipstick
 One of Mac's most beautiful peachy lipsticks and it had to be a limited edition like pretty much all of their peachy ones. It's a sheer light peachy shade perfect for the summer, with a satin finish. This is my second tube of this lipstick, I used to have the one that it was first released back in 2008 with another limited edition collection, but for some reason it gone bad really quick.

Essence I'm Sailing Lipstick
This one from Essence is a little more coral peachy than Mac's Pleasureseeker and also more pigmented and glossy. I've mentioned it a couple of times in my blog, I love it and if I had to choose only one lipstick to wear all summer it would be this one. Unfortunately it was limited edition a couple of years ago.

Bare Escentuals Buxom Lipgloss in Kate
I don't usually wear lipglosses, but because it's summer sometimes I wanted a more juicy look on my lips, this one from Bare Escentuals is just perfect, because it has a light pink tint and it's very glossy, I wore it on top of my peachy lipsticks or sometimes on its own.
Real Techniques Blush and Setting Brushes
Since I got my Real Techniques brushes I've been using them all the time, but the blush and setting brushes are the ones that I love the most. I use the blush brush to apply my bronzers, occasionally I use it for blush too but I find that it applies the blush way too light for my liking. And the setting brush is just amazing, I use it to apply powder under my eyes to set my concealer, but I also love it for appying highlighter on my cheekbones and sometimes apply concealer under my eyes. This brush is so multipurpose that I seriously consider purchasing a second one soon!
Frezyderm Moisturizing 24H Hydrating Cream
This is the only face moisturizer I've been using for more than a month day and night and I'm very happy with it. My skin has been through many changes this summer, it went from oily to super dry and flaky with break outs, and back to oily and then just to normal, and this moisturizer really helped to control the hydration on my skin. The only problem is that whenever my skin was very dry and  flaky this moisturizer wasn't enough, but it's perfect when you have normal and mixed skintype.

Nivea Soft
Such a cult beauty product, and only this summer I realised just how awesome it is. At first I was using my mother's jar to moisturize my legs and feet and now after 2 months I've gone through 2 jars, a 200 and a 300 ml one, and I've already repurchased a big one. It hydrates my body very well without feeling sticky at all, it leaves a cooling sensation on my feet which is pretty amazing because most of the lotions and creams that I apply on my feet they feel so sticky and heavy, and I can't stand them. And when my face was in a bad situation I used this cream twice and I was amazed by how good it hydrates the skin without feeling oily. Such a multipurpose cream.
Herbal Essences Bee Strong Shampoo
From all the Herbal Essences shampoo that I've tried, and I've tried like most of them, this is the best one by far. If you have normal to dry hair you will love it. The rest of the Herbal Essences shampoos that I've tried can be drying, even the ones that are targeted for dry hair, but this one never did that, it leaves my hair soft and detangled. And even if I like to switch up my shampoos very often, I will come back to this one for sure.

Sunsilk Nourishing Oil Spray
I've already talked about this hair oil a lot, I've been using it a lot all summer and I love it. It's a mix of a hair oil and a leave in conditioner in a spray bottle. It's so practical you, can carry it around with you for a quick hair fix, or travel with it or even at the beach, it leaves my hair incredibly soft.

Sunsilk Sensational Curls Leave In Cream
One of the best curl creams that I've ever tried, and if there's any of you that has curly or wavy hair you should definitely try it. It creates the most beautiful and well defined curls, even more beautiful than the ones that a curling iron gives, because they're small loose but well defined at the same time! All summer I didn't use any heat on my hair, I was just using hair oil and this curl cream. And the best part is that it's ridiculously cheap, only 2.5 euros.



I know this post is way too long but I wanted to show you all the stuff that I've been enjoying the past couple of months. I want to know if you've tried any of these products and if you like them or not. Also what were your favorite summer products? Leave me a comment.